An Uzumaki Scorned
by SilentSambo88
Summary: <html><head></head>Heavy rewrite of The Gallant Toad Sage's "Betrayal". Ten years after the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto's dream to become Hokage has become a bitter search for truth and understanding. On the night he finally achieves his dream, he uncovers a devastating series of betrayals from the Sandaime that drive him into the past to seek justice. Semi-AU. Rated M for language.</html>
1. Chapter 1: Prelude to Scorn

**A/N: How many of you remember the abandoned fic "Betrayal" by The Gallant Toad Sage? While it had numerous flaws, it was still one of the more popular time travel fanfictions on this site, and it's a damn shame that the author has left us. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried a rewrite for my first upload to this site, but I can't really control my muse, now can I?**

**In an attempt to curb the ridiculous fanon tropes which overran and ruined the original, and keep them down to a necessary minimum, I've also had to take inspiration from my favorite time travel fanfiction, "Twelve Shattered Mirrors" by Solvdrage, in this rewrite. My thanks go to him for granting permission to borrow a major plot point from his work as well as his assistance in putting the plot for this ficlet together. I'm also thanking Hektols, Leaf Ranger and RiversKitten for their assistance in the latter.**

**Warning: since this is a heavy rewrite, I'm going to let you guys know right now that it's not going to conform to the Time Travel Challenge, meaning Naruto will NOT destroy Konoha. That is also one of the things which I felt ruined the original story, the biggest in fact, since what reason did Naruto have to punish the many for the crimes of the few? Eliminate what didn't happen in canon, a.k.a. nearly every fanfic writer and their dogs assuming Naruto's childhood was shittier than it actually was, and you eliminate the reason for Naruto to go completely dark instead of adopting shades of grey. That doesn't mean that those who are guilty will go unpunished; it only means there won't be mass killing of civilians. Something will be destroyed in Hi no Kuni, just not Konoha, not if Naruto can avoid it.**

**Anyway, enjoy if that's what you fancy. I apologize in advance for any glaring errors, since I felt pressured into posting at least one story before the manga ends this year.**

**EDIT: Only after posting the first chapter did I realize I forgot to include a description of Naruto's post-canon outfit! Blah. Problem solved, I guess?**

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><p>Disclaimer: Naruto is an ongoing Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto with an Animé adaptation. The Manga is published by Shueisha in Japan, and Viz Media in the United States, Canada, and UK, and it is serialized by Shonen Jump. The TV Animé is directed by Hayato Date, and licensed by Aniplex in Japan, Viz Media in the United States, and Manga Entertainment in the UK. I also do not own any of the profile pictures I used in my fan fictions.<p>

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><p><em>Chapter 1<em>

_Prelude to Scorn_

A very tired Uzumaki Naruto leaned back in his chair, gazing over the twelve armored bodies that littered the floor of the Hokage's office. It hadn't even been one full day since he was sworn in, and already someone had tried to remove him from power in the most violent way. Assassination attempts were expected by any S-rank ninja, but was it in the job description for a Hokage to have to deal with one on his first day on the job? He couldn't imagine any of his predecessors having to deal with a mess like this so soon.

His breathing was only slightly labored, despite the fact he'd just come out of the fight of his life. His groans were not induced by pain, at least not physical pain. The slight headache he had from his brain trying to process what he learned tonight wasn't enough to elicit a groan. He experienced far worse mental strain each day from his training, and had become accustomed to it. This was nothing in comparison.

His outfit had seen better days. He had opted to forego the traditional Hokage robes, instead sticking to the black shirt and orange sweatpants he wore since returning from Kumo two years ago, only adding a black haori with orange trimming, red flame patterns encompassing the bottom and the kanji for Nanadaime on the back over it. Said haori had been turned into little more than overpriced rags by a high-level Fūton ninjutsu used by one of the dead assassins littering the floor. He'd also decided to cut his hair short, much to the disappointment of many of the fangirls he'd had to fend off, and right now his blond hair was soaked in the blood of his would-be assassins.

He was fatigued, but the fatigue in his eyes could not be attributed to physical exhaustion. His eyes were those of a man who had watched his own dream die, along with any chance he ever had to find true happiness in life.

Technically, they had belonged to three others who also suffered a deep spiritual trauma, but the haunted look unique to Naruto was unmistakable. Ten years of endless nightmares with no one to help ease the pain would make anyone world-weary, and even Naruto, a man many thought to be unbreakable, had been worn down. All who took the time to really see him were shocked and disturbed by the look in his eyes, when they knew it should have been expected, considering his troubled past. But it was because they knew him, that they were shocked to see the toll taken on his soul.

When Naruto had announced to the remaining members of the Konoha 12, a group which was reduced to 6 in the Fourth Shinobi World War, that he no longer sought the title of Hokage, the reactions of his friends ranged from disbelief to despair to outrage. But it was the answer he gave them for giving up his dream that was the most unsettling. It wasn't because he hadn't been able to save Sasuke, that he now felt himself unfit to pursue his childhood dream any longer. Rather, it was because of one specific person Sasuke had killed in the war.

After Naruto and Sasuke finally managed to seal Kaguya and save the world, they still had to free everyone from the Mugen Tsukuyomi cast by Madara. But before he was willing to end the endless dream, Sasuke's true agenda showed through in a flash of psychosis. Sasuke, the last Uchiha, had intended to rule the world by eliminating the bijū, the Gokage, and anyone and anything else who could stand against him - including Naruto. Asura's reincarnation had had no choice but to end the Indra line once and for all. But in death, Indra's reincarnation still managed to achieve part of his objective. In his last moments, Sasuke sent a poisonous chakra pulse through the roots of the Shinju to seek out and destroy his targets before they could wake up. If the Uchiha could not achieve his ambition, in one final act of hatred, he would ensure the _dobe_ would never be able to fulfill his dreams.

Senju Tsunade, Sabaku no Gaara, Terumī Mei, Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki, and Ei all perished, helpless against the Chakura Kusari no Jutsu unleashed by the last Uchiha in his last moments. With the simultaneous death of the Gokage, coupled with the casualties sustained by the Allied Shinobi Forces, a massive power void had been created, and peace would elude the survivors for years until the struggle was resolved.

But Sasuke's hatred didn't stop there. It couldn't. It wouldn't be satisfied until Naruto felt the closest thing possible to the loss he suffered on the night of the Uchiha Massacre and was completely destroyed inside, and so he used his last technique to also target as many of Naruto's friends as possible. The result had been thoroughly devastating, both to Naruto and to Konoha. In Konoha, the corruptive chakra sought out and destroyed Ichiraku Teuchi and Ayame, Sarutobi Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, and Hyūga Hanabi, among many others. On the battlefield, the technique was even more destructive, and each victim it claimed had been very important to Naruto. On that day, he also lost Umino Iruka, Inuzuka Kiba, Akimichi Chōji and Nara Shikamaru, along with someone he couldn't even speak of anymore, because of how badly her death traumatized him.

On that day, the only person who had ever unconditionally loved him, Hyūga Hinata, was murdered by the man Uzumaki Naruto once considered his best friend and brother. And with her death, both of Naruto's dreams died as well.

Naruto's eyes began to water, and he noticed a few teardrops starting to mix with the blood which soaked the bandages wrapped around his right arm. The thought of Hinata, and the regret he was burdened with by never having the chance to return her love, was the only thing left in this life that could drive him to tears.

Everything was supposed to be smooth sailing after the world recovered and the survivors moved on from their loss. Naruto was supposed to be able to make all of Hinata's dreams come true by choosing her and eventually marrying her and giving her the family she - no, they - had always wanted. He was supposed to have her by his side always, and be by her side always, no matter what. But one act of malice had taken it all away from him. Watching her die, unable to do a damned thing to save her even with the **Rikudō no Yō no Chikara**, had been the same thing as watching his dreams die.

But if Naruto no longer wanted the title of Hokage, why was he now sitting behind the desk in the Hokage Tower?

The answer to that question was revealed two years ago. One month after the conclusion of the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Daimyōs of the Elemental Nations had almost completely taken over. Sunagakure no longer had a Kazekage, as the Wind Daimyō conspired with the Suna Council to eliminate the position outright, since no Suna ninja was strong enough to assume the position. In Iwagakure and Kirigakure, it became quickly obvious that the new Kages were mere puppets. Konohagakure and Kumogakure still had ninjas who were strong enough both physically and mentally not to succumb to the whims of their civilian overlords, but the losses sustained by the Alliance made revolt against their Daimyōs nearly impossible, even with Naruto and Kirabi on their side. Worse, the Daimyōs' personal guards had been equipped with highly advanced chakra-powered armor and weaponry rumored to have been developed in secret by Shimura Danzō's ROOT program; and rumor also had it they were trained specifically to kill jinchūriki. Back then, the armor and weapons had only been prototypes, and it would have taken dozens of sacrifices to ensure the target was eliminated, but involving the jinchūriki or the seven bijū who lacked a new host in a new war would have been a fatal mistake on the Alliance's end.

Hatake Kakashi, the Rokudaime Hokage, ordered Naruto to join Kirabi in seclusion at the Waterfall of Truth on an indefinite training trip. Kakashi had been all business that day, threatening to kill Naruto if he refused - and since Kakashi had somehow managed to reawaken Uchiha Obito's parting gift of the Mangekyō Sharingan, he was the one person still living who could make good on that threat.

Perhaps if Kakashi had known then what he knew now, he would not have been so adamant about keeping Naruto out of battle.

Kakashi and Naruto looked over the office they trashed, Sharingan and Rinnegan eyes locked on the mangled and broken corpses of a dozen ROOT assassins sent after the newly inaugurated Nanadaime. This attempt on their lives achieved two things. First, it confirmed the rumors about the Daimyōs being backed by ROOT, since the assassins bore a more advanced version of the chakra armor supplied to the Daimyōs' personal guards. And second, it gave them irrefutable proof of the conspiracy hinted at by the current Fire Daimyō, who came into power two years ago after his predecessor met his end. The new Daimyō had urged Naruto to pursue the title of Hokage once more, but not to honor the memories of those who would have wanted him to pursue his old dream no matter what, although that was a major argument to convince the future Hokage. The new Daimyō had said that if Naruto were to become Hokage, he would be able to find a much-needed sense of closure. There were secrets he claimed Naruto needed to discover, secrets which would only reveal themselves if the Hero of Konoha rose above his anguish and answered his calling.

Not even five minutes after the sun set on his first day in office, those secrets were already coming to light.

Using the Human Path abilities of the Rinnegan, Naruto had literally ripped the souls out of eight of the twelve assailants. One of them had just so happened to have a sealed memory of a conversation between himself and Danzō which referred to the conspiracy the new Fire Daimyō had hinted at. This one had obviously taken the reigns after Danzō's death, and had been trusted implicitly by the deceased traitorous elder if the memory was only _sealed_ and not _erased._

Naruto was already livid from unlocking said memory with Kurama's help, and yet he knew his anger would only continue to rise as the night went on.

"Naruto-sama, before we discuss what just transpired here, how the hell do you have the Rinnegan?" Kakashi asked. Naruto rolled his eyes at his former teacher's use of the _-sama_ honorific, but he _was_ currently in Hokage Mode. Everyone in his inner circle of friends had to show the proper respect when he was serious.

"Sakura-nee-chan insisted on performing the surgery in secret after the war, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto replied. "She wanted me to find a way to bring _her_ back. She thought that with both the Rinnegan that was taken from Madara and the Rikudō Senjutsu, nothing would be impossible for me to accomplish."

"I guess you finally learned that some things are impossible after all," Kakashi observed. The search for a resurrection technique that didn't require Naruto to sacrifice anyone's life in exchange had been almost totally fruitless. As soon as he learned that using Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu was guaranteed to kill him even if he only revived a single person, despite his Uzumaki lineage and Rikudō abilities, his morale plummeted farther than it ever had in his life, and his resolve almost completely broke. But Haruno Sakura had made him promise to find a way, not for her, but for himself. Sakura had eventually managed to move on after she accepted it had been necessary to kill Sasuke.

Not once did Sakura accept that there would ever be someone else who could love Naruto and heal his heart, if he could not bring Hinata back to his world.

Unlike the last promise of a lifetime she'd exacted from Naruto, this time Sakura knew full well what she had asked of him. She knew she was sending Naruto down another spiral of despair, but it was something she couldn't help. Truly, she knew she was a horrible friend, unworthy of being within a hundred meters of Naruto's presence.

But Naruto had responded to this request almost the same way he'd responded to the first. His naïvete was gone, he too knew what it would mean if this promise was also broken, but he didn't care. Somehow, Sakura had known that Hinata was his only true love. If he couldn't find a way to revive her, he would never be able to find true happiness.

Resurrection proved to be one of the few areas of kinjutsu that was taboo even there. No matter what technique was used, it required a living sacrifice to pull a dead soul back into the world. Naruto would not pay that price, ever.

But that didn't mean it was totally hopeless. His mind flashed back to that fateful day, specifically to when Hagoromo had appeared inside his mindscape a few minutes after Kurama's extraction. The Rikudō Sennin had traveled through time to appear at the critical moment.

Wait...

Why was he remembering that now, of all times? It seemed totally random, and yet...

Naruto's eyes widened at the realization which flashed through his mind. He knew exactly what he was going to do now.

"Ya know, Kakashi-sensei, this has to be the worst joke of all time," Naruto remarked, his attitude momentarily shifting to resemble the mask of happiness he used to wear.

"Oh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow in curiosity. What was his cute little Genin turned Nanadaime Hokage planning now?

"I was going about this kinjutsu business the wrong way. As we know, the cost of bringing someone who died back to life is way too high. But no one ever said anything about the cost of going back and preventing someone from dying in the first place."

"Time travel, Naruto-kun? Really?"

"It's our only option, sensei. If we have to make it to where entire years never happened, well, I'd definitely say that's for the best, after what I just learned and am about to learn tonight."

"I see." He didn't, actually, but he knew he would soon enough. Naruto's eyes were darting around the room, trying to scan for something, unfortunately to no avail.

"Kakashi-sensei...was there any chance at all that any materials from the old Hokage Tower were used in the reconstruction?" With that question, Naruto was back in Hokage Mode.

"None at all, Naruto-sama. No recycling of building material was involved; everything used was one hundred percent new material."

"Fuck!" Naruto slammed his hands down hard enough to break his desk into three pieces. "That means we're not going to find the proof we need here."

"And don't bother ordering a raid of the Foundation, either," a new voice chimed in. It belonged to a pale-skinned young man whose jet black uniform exposed his midriff. Naruto rolled his eyes at the arrival.

"You're late, Sai," the Nanadaime growled.

"And you're still dickless, Hokage-sama," Sai quipped. "As I was saying, it's pointless to order a raid of the old Foundation buildings to search for the truth you now seek. When Danzō died, his loyal ROOT ninja cleaned house and fled. We've been unable to find even a trace of them ever since, and truthfully, they were kinda forgotten about in the wake of the Daimyō fiasco."

"Which idiot had the bright idea to just forget about over a hundred rogue ninja?" Naruto was thoroughly livid. If he had inherited his mother's hair, Sai and Kakashi would have been able to see it raising the same way Kushina's did whenever she got royally pissed off. "Blah, forget it, it's not like we're going to be able to deal with that problem right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Gather the following people to my office within one hour," Naruto said, handing Sai a list of names. "Standard procedure for an S-rank secret meeting. Let no one know why they've been summoned."

"Calling a war council, Naruto-sama?" Kakashi pondered.

"It has been a long time coming, sensei. Our enemies need to be reminded that hell hath no fury like an Uzumaki scorned."


	2. Chapter 2: Betrayal Revealed

Key:

"Normal speech"

_Normal thoughts_

_"Normal mental conversations"_

**"Bijū speech"**

_**Bijū thoughts**_

_**"Bijū mental conversations"**_

Techniques / Abilities

**A/N: I'm flattered by the initial reception. Having only six non-guest reviews is disappointing, but I didn't think as many people would take a liking to it as they did. However, before I posted it, my best friend (who doesn't use this site) told me she thought there were major flaws regarding how I handled Naruto, and, going back over that chapter...I agree with her, to a certain extent. Maybe it's fine to not go as in-depth with his thoughts as she wanted, but one mistake none can deny is my failure to include a physical description of his future self. That has since been rectified, though I'm pretty much winging it by keeping it mostly identical to the outfit he adopts in The Last.**

**Anyway, review more, please? I can't maintain quality and inspiration if my readers don't voice their thoughts, including constructive criticisms. Also, do NOT expect all future chapters to be as long as this. I consider this chapter an anomaly already. Lastly, don't expect me to be able to post new chapters as quickly as I did this one.**

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><p><em>Chapter 2<em>

_Betrayal Revealed_

_Hōzukijō (Blood Prison)_

Having confirmed that Konoha did not hold the secrets he sought, Naruto had turned to the one source he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt would have his answers.

Almost immediately after arriving at Hōzukijō via a Hiraishin seal planted at the front gates, his body tensed up involuntarily. Memories of a major incident after the Gokage Summit haunted him. Naruto had once been framed for the murders of several Jōnin from Kumo, Iwa and Kiri and an assassination attempt against the Yondaime Raikage, and was sent here. The former master of Hōzukijō, Mui, had questioned Naruto's devotion to Konoha during his wrongful imprisonment. Now, more than ten years later, Naruto himself questioned how he had been so naïve as to remain unquestionably loyal to his home village. Even though his false imprisonment had been revealed to be the only way to ensure the successful completion of an important mission, a betrayal of this magnitude should have destroyed his loyalty.

After reviewing the memories of the ROOT assassins, the Nanadaime strongly suspected the Sandaime might have had a major hand in conditioning him to be absolutely loyal to Konoha.

_Old man, just how much were you hiding from me?_ he wondered. He already knew the answer to that question would devastate him.

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><p>"Naruto-kun, this is a pleasant surprise," the reason for Naruto's visit to Hōzukijō, one Yakushi Kabuto, spoke up, hiding most of his scaly body under the same scarlet robes he wore back in the Fourth Shinobi World War. Naruto never quite got over the disgust he felt each time he was forced to look at the infamous traitor who fused himself with the White Snake Sage, sacrificing his own humanity in the process.<p>

This was not the first time Naruto had visited Kabuto inside the Blood Prison. Kabuto had proven to be an extremely valuable source of information, and there were several occasions during his stay in Kumo when he'd needed to join Godaime Raikage Darui and his fellow jinchūriki B during their excursions here to extract information from some of the more reliable prisoners. It was with Kabuto's information that Kumo and Konoha launched a joint military operation to kill the reborn Orochimaru, destroy Otogakure once and for all, and demilitarize Ta no Kuni permanently. Naruto, of course, had been given a major piece of that military operation by Darui, much to Kakashi's displeasure, but Darui quickly pointed out that he had not actually caused Naruto to violate Kakashi's orders. If he couldn't aid Konoha from within Hi no Kuni's borders, Darui had no qualms about letting its hero aid his home village from a distance.

In exchange for his invaluable information, Kumo and Konoha had allowed Kabuto to resume some of his scientific research while at Hōzukijō. He had also wanted a chance to help out with the orphanages, but that request was to be forever denied.

"Only for you, teme," Naruto shot back. "But you already know why I'm here."

"Ah, yes, I was wondering when the Foundation would reappear and make its move against you. I've expected this to happen for a few years now, actually. If Shimura could not have you as his weapon, he would instead ensure that no one else, especially not Professor Sarutobi, could claim you as their weapon instead."

Naruto froze. He'd thought he expected this, but nothing could emotionally prepare him for confirming his suspicions. Hōzukijō was already packed full of unpleasant surprises, and now its most valuable prisoner just saw fit to drop the biggest bombshell of his life onto his shoulders.

"Jiji...wanted me to be a weapon?" he breathed out in disbelief.

"In some ways, you're still the same naïve child I first met back at the Chūnin Exams. All jinchūriki were viewed as weapons by the leaders of the villages they belong to, and your precious Sandaime Hokage was no exception. Though I'm not surprised by your reaction to this revelation. Sarutobi was a splendid actor. He used his advanced age very well. But not quite well enough, it would seem."

Those who knew Naruto knew he tended to wear his heart on his sleeve. His time in Kumo had better prepared him for the harsh reality of the post-war shinobi world, but if it wasn't necessary to hide his emotions, he didn't hide them. From the way he was trembling, Kabuto divulged that Naruto felt a dangerous mixture of negative feelings.

The biggest one among them being betrayal.

"Of course, I have all the proof you require," Kabuto continued, revealing a small black book kept concealed in the left sleeve of his robe. "When the false leader of Akatsuki destroyed Konoha, it was ridiculously easy to sneak in and obtain everything I sought after. I didn't just take DNA samples of dead shinobi to use in my army of Edo Tensei summons, Naruto-kun. I also unearthed all the dirty secrets your predecessors buried away."

"Why are you so eager to help me, Kabuto?"

"I suppose it's the part of Orochimaru-sama that stayed with me talking, but I'm curious to learn about how events will unfold, now that the windmill has been set in motion. I desire to see for myself exactly what price the world must pay for the truth to set you free." Naruto nodded at that as he took the book, labeled _Sandaime Hokage's Failures_, from the table Kabuto sat it on and began reading. There was no doubt whatsoever that the world _would_ pay a high price. The only question was how high would that price be.

As part of his Hokage training under Rokudaime Kakashi, Naruto had been required to evaluate the decisions his predecessors were forced to make in specific crises. To take the facts available at that time and see if he could make a better decision than they. Two of them had been the Uchiha Massacre and the Hyūga Incident. His studies of each crisis had slowly eroded his faith in the Sandaime. Thanks to his involvement in the Gokage Summit, Naruto thought he knew every secret about those two affairs and was certain he would have handled things a lot better than his jiji.

But as it would turn out, Naruto had another think coming.

Kabuto left a bookmark for him which guided him to read about the Uchiha Massacre first, rather than start from the beginning. Naruto immediately learned that there were a few details about the aftermath of that tragedy which had continued to elude him until now. If Sarutobi Hiruzen had had everything go according to the plan kept contained inside this little black book, not only would the bastard Uchiha Sasuke still be alive, he would be little more than a mindless drone, a tool whose only function outside of missions would be as a breeding slave to create a new Uchiha clan with the fierce loyalty of the Inuzuka.

_"Sensei's experience with the Uchiha clan in its glory days has taught me the reason why they were doomed to this fate. Nearly all Uchiha are incapable of living according to logic, because they are genetically enslaved to their emotions. This invariably leads them down a path of self-destruction. The very nature of the Uchiha made them a threat that had to be eradicated. Only if that nature is changed can the clan be allowed to return from the brink of extinction."_

Hiruzen had taken after Tobirama's belief that the Uchiha couldn't be reasoned with, that they were absolutely ruled by their emotions and not logic. Perhaps the only thing that had stopped the Sandaime from allowing Danzō to take Sasuke into ROOT, which had been the sole reason Danzō allowed Itachi to spare Sasuke, had been the fear of how Itachi would respond. By the time that fear was no longer an issue, Sasuke had become unsalvageable to that plan.

Naruto did not accept the Nidaime and Sandaime's anti-Uchiha stance. Perhaps Sasuke had been irredeemable by the time the Fourth Shinobi World War began, but he was certain the Last Loyal Uchiha could have still been saved if someone had made a greater effort sooner. He just couldn't figure out how soon.

And what about everyone else in the clan who was innocent? What about the other children, the elderly, any Uchiha civilian who was not in the know about Fugaku's planned coup d'état against Konoha? Why couldn't they have been spared? Would it not have been easier to change the Uchiha for the better if the Sandaime and Danzō had decided to spare more innocents than Sasuke? Why couldn't they have just revealed the crimes of the guilty to influence the minds of the innocent, to make them ashamed of what transpired, and thus prevent a repeat incident? Why did they _all_ have to be slaughtered? Naruto just didn't and couldn't understand why anyone would consider such an act to be a necessary evil. Naruto himself would have carried out the massacre had he been in Itachi's shoes, but he would have left a lot more survivors. There was simply no chance in hell the _entire_ Uchiha Clan could be guilty of treason. But this was a prime example of genuine contempt, if not outright corruption, from the leadership of Konoha.

Naruto was already seething in anger after reading this entry. But it only got worse from there.

In the event that Sasuke had survived and conformed to Hiruzen's plan for him, the Sandaime had also contemplated passing a law called the Clan Restoration Act which would have forced the Last Loyal Uchiha to take multiple wives and bear children with all of them within one year of the protocol's activation. When he read the list of intended wives, his chakra was flaring wildly. Hyūga Hinata and Ichiraku Ayame were on the list of women who would potentially be forced to help create a new Uchiha clan, and as soon as he saw their names, Naruto knew they had been chosen for Sasuke's harem specifically because they were the only two women in all of Konoha who had seen past the Kyūbi no Yōko and cared about him. If all had gone to his plan and the law had been passed, Naruto would have lost both of them forever. The only difference is that instead of suffering alone, Naruto would have had to watch them suffer, oblivious to the reason for their suffering.

It was disturbingly similar to what Hiruzen's rival, the Shinobi no Yami, Shimura Danzō, would have done if Sasuke had never defected from Konoha to Otogakure. In that moment, Naruto felt the last of his respect for the so-called Shinobi no Kami die forever.

After enlightening himself for the last time about one of Konoha's greatest tragedies, Naruto flipped the pages backward to return to the first mistake the Sandaime wrote down in his black book, the defection of Orochimaru after his inhuman experiments were exposed. Hiruzen had actually allowed his former student to go free! So much would have been different if the Sandaime had done what needed to be done back then.

Two years ago, Naruto would not have truly blamed Hiruzen for letting his former student escape. He had once felt the same way about Sasuke, hoping there was still a chance to redeem his former best friend, but ultimately had been forced to do what was necessary.

But the two years since he returned from Kumo had created a very different Naruto, one who was driven to expose every last dirty secret of Konoha and ensure the mistakes of his predecessors would never be repeated. His dead dream to become Hokage had been reborn into a bitter search for truth, and a witch hunt against those who still lived who might be implicated in the crimes he discovered.

_What the hell have you done, Old Man?_ Naruto thought.

Speaking of Kumo, Naruto realized that the Uchiha Massacre's aftermath had not been the only time Sarutobi and Shimura were willing to sacrifice Hinata for what they considered the good of the village. Danzō had arranged for the Hyūga elders to weaken security at the compound enough for the Head Ninja of Kumo to sneak in and kidnap the heiress. Konoha had been willing to give the Byakugan to Kumo as a means to avoid further conflict. And when Hiashi stepped in, killing the Head Ninja, the leadership of Konoha had been willing to sell him out when Yondaime Raikage Ei demanded he be executed and his body sent to Kumo to confirm his death.

At that point, the situation became a Catch-22. Given everything he knew about the Hyūga Incident and Ei's usual state of mind, Naruto was certain he would not have been able to avoid war with Kumo had he been Hokage back then, even if Konoha's allies had presented a united front. Actually, the rage he felt towards Kumo for their role in the affair would have ensured a new declaration of war. Naruto had changed a lot over the years, but one thing that remained the same was his unwavering loyalty to his comrades. If a war was what it took to prevent his village from betraying a comrade to an enemy, Naruto would not have thought twice about leading Konoha into war. He recognized he was somewhat bloodlusted right now, but even if his judgment wasn't clouded, he could not think of another way to keep the peace that did not involve Konoha making a concession that Kumo had no right to demand.

But the real tragedy in the affair began after Hizashi's sacrifice. Apparently the Hyūga elders, Hiruzen and Danzō had not anticipated his choice to take his twin brother's place. In choosing death, Hizashi spared Hiashi and denied Kumo the Byakugan. But he also brought on retaliation against the head family for his singular act of defiance, as noted in page fourteen of the Sandaime's black book:

_"The Hyūga were fools to allow Hizashi to die in his brother's stead. Had they pushed harder, the elders could have seized control over the clan and ensured their absolute loyalty to me. But with Hiashi still alive thanks to this act of defiance, he is able to continue defying my will with his support of Uzumaki Naruto. He must be made to suffer. Perhaps if he is broken, he can be forgiven his transgressions against his Hokage."_

Hiruzen and Danzō, through the Foundation and the Hyūga elders, had conducted a systematic campaign against Hiashi and Hinata. The goal had been to break them completely. And why? Because they had been two of the few people who tried to support Naruto during his hellish childhood.

Hiashi had, for a time, been broken, at least until Naruto's upset victory over Neji in the Chūnin Exams allowed him a change of heart so he could begin to heal the rifts in his family. Danzō had arranged for the murder of Hinata's mother, and even worse, there were standing orders for ROOT to murder Hinata herself if it so much as looked like she would succeed in reforming the Hyūga. More tears fell from Naruto's eyes as he thought about how everyone in power had opposed her so vehemently. He was also certain at this point that they would have murdered her if he'd ever returned her love while she still lived. _Were they truly destined to be separated forever, in life and death?_

Naruto almost couldn't will himself to keep reading, but he had little choice. There was one other major revelation to address, the one which started this bitter search for truth. Were Kabuto and the current Fire Daimyō right about Hiruzen? Had the Sandaime truly sought to turn Naruto into a weapon?

Shaking in a combination of fear and rage, Naruto turned the pages to find the final entry, the one addressing Sarutobi's greatest failure.

And in that moment, any love he might have still harbored for his jiji turned to pure, unadulterated hate.

_"During my tenure as Hokage, there is no doubt that the single greatest mistake I've made is the decision to allow Uzumaki Naruto to live. While I wanted to kill him, I was bound to honor Minato's dying wish and let him live. The Yondaime wanted Konoha to see his orphaned son as a hero. He was naïve. The fear and prejudice of the villagers will not allow them to look past the Kyūbi no Yōko even though they are not stupid enough to mistake Naruto for the bijū he was cursed to carry inside him. But their fear can at least be a useful tool for conditioning Naruto. If he cannot be killed, then he will be molded into the weapon that all jinchūriki are meant to be."_

So it was true. Danzō was not alone in his desire to weaponize Naruto.

_"The boy's determination is unusual, even if it was expected of him to inherit that from his mother. Even if no one acknowledges his existence, he refuses to give in to hate and despair._

_"Nonetheless, it is simple enough to encourage the villagers to act on their fear, as their doing so serves my purposes regarding Minato's legacy. By encouraging the majority to act on their fear and distance themselves from him, Naruto will have no choice but to latch onto the few who accept him. These bonds he is desperate to have will instill in him an unwavering loyalty to Konoha._

_"The Ichiraku family is perhaps my greatest instrument of conditioning the child. Among all the civilian shop owners in Konoha, they are the only ones who are guaranteed not to turn him away. It is also worth noting that the shop Ichiraku Teuchi happens to run is a ramen stand. Kushina's addiction to ramen and her frequent visits to Ramen Ichiraku were well-known by her friends and confidants, and there is no doubt Teuchi will see Naruto's mother in him whenever he serves the child's meals. Furthermore, the negative effects ramen has on the body will prevent Naruto from being aware of my plans for him. The high carbohydrate and sodium content of the ramen he is addicted to will hinder his mental development, and with his unwitting role in stunting Naruto's growth, Teuchi does his duty to Konoha by helping to keep the jinchūriki controlled._

_"After all, the perfect soldier only remains such as long as he cannot question his orders or his loyalty to his commander."_

Naruto shook even more, and as his chakra flared to dangerously high levels, Hōzukijō trembled with him. The Sandaime had _wanted_ him to become reliant on a select few, and so encouraged the village to deny his existence as long as they obeyed the law? The part about Ichiraku being used like that also broke his heart, knowing that Teuchi and Ayame had truly cared about him and the Sandaime even admitted that in his journal. He was always mindful that Sakura and his parents had tried to get him to stop eating ramen so often because it was so unhealthy, but to think the Sandaime would encourage his addiction to it for that exact reason?

_"The other major effect this conditioning will have on Naruto's growth is that he will not be able to notice girls like normal boys do. The lack of positive attention in his life coupled with the damage caused to his brain by his ramen-heavy diet will cause him to misinterpret or ignore any signals given to him by members of the opposite sex._

_"In the event that he manages to successfully pursue a romantic relationship, his stunted growth and lack of proper education will likely prevent him from being able to perform more intimate acts with his significant other. This, too, is my intention. If he were to have a real family, instead of the surrogate family Konoha is intended to become for him, he would place his loyalty to his blood family over his loyalty to Konoha. When the time comes to transfer the Kyūbi to another, a trusted kunoichi will be assigned to drug and rape him so that she may bear his child, which will also be conditioned into becoming a weapon for Konoha._

_"If by some chance should the impossible happen and this plan backfire, I have allowed Danzō to give a special dead man's cell of ROOT ninja the standing order of eliminating the jinchūriki before he becomes a threat. This also means that no matter what, he cannot be allowed to become Hokage, as his doing so would ultimately expose all of my darkest secrets and failures to the Elemental Nations. Should my successor find this journal, I trust that they will act accordingly to ensure the weapon does not get a chance to turn against his owners."_

Naruto couldn't read any more. Even if he could, he just now noticed that he had entered Bijū Mode during his reading, and the chakra flare was causing structural damage to Hōzukijō.

The Sandaime had never wanted Naruto to fulfill either of his dreams; he'd secretly acted to ensure neither would come true. He had taken every good quality of Naruto's and turned them into a curse. He had used the villagers' fear and distrust against Naruto. He had pushed Naruto into suffering great abuse at the fists of Sakura-nee-chan before she started improving. He had acted against those shinobi who openly supported Naruto, and even had some of his supporters killed. And those who weren't killed, were either subjected to a worse hell than him, or used to keep him under control.

And the assassins he'd killed? It was Sarutobi who authorized their kill order against him.

But he couldn't accept that everything he'd believed in was a lie, just because he'd been so thoroughly manipulated and betrayed. The Will of Fire was not propaganda; it was real, even if the Sandaime himself didn't believe in it. The people of Konoha may have been ignorant, but that did not make them guilty of the Sandaime's crimes. If anything, they were also victims, not conspirators. And they had been won over eventually, learning to see him for him and not for the Kyūbi.

No matter how much he hated the Sandaime, Naruto could not bring himself to destroy Konoha. He could not kill thousands just to take revenge against a few. To do so would make him a worse monster than any Konoha ever produced.

Now that his resolve was set in stone, however, he would _not_ allow these crimes to go unpunished. Turning back the clock just became more necessary than ever.

"Put these on," Naruto ordered, tossing a pair of chakra-dampening bracers to Kabuto that ROOT had designed. "I'm taking you out of here for a short time."

Kabuto was flabbergasted. "Wow. Just...wow, Naruto-kun. Why are you so trusting all of a sudden?"

"Let's just say that something far bigger than anything you could imagine is about to happen. As you just said, the windmill has been set in motion, and I promise you won't want to miss what happens next." _And I feel like I owe you a debt for giving me the truth, but it will be a cold day in hell before I ever admit _that _out loud._

* * *

><p><em>Konoha, Hokage Tower - Thirty minutes later<em>

The "war council" Uzumaki Naruto called was pretty impressive, considering the depletion of skilled shinobi Konohagakure no Sato suffered in the Fourth Shinobi World War and the subsequent civil war against the Fire Capital. Out of all the Elemental Nations, Konoha still had the highest number of S-rank ninja in its military ranks, and Naruto had summoned every single one who was currently available to his office.

Just about every S-rank ninja in Konoha became S-rank either during or after the war, and could be divided into three groups. The first group included his surrogate sister Haruno Sakura, along with Sai, Yamanaka Ino, and Aburame Shino. The ascendancy of the surviving members of the Konoha 12 to this status had been a huge, albeit pleasant shock to most of Konoha when their status was granted at a Kage Summit following Hi no Kuni's civil war. The second group, featuring older shinobi like Rokudaime Hatake Kakashi and Hyūga Hiashi, were already veterans before the Elemental Nations united against the terrorist group Akatsuki and the natural disaster brought on by Madara and Obito's Project Tsuki no Me, and age had not treated them well. And the third group, which included Hōzuki Suigetsu, Uzumaki Karin and Yakushi Kabuto, consisted of reformed criminals who sought refuge in Hi no Kuni and were willing to pay for their crimes to prove their loyalty; Kabuto was summoned directly from Hōzukijō by Naruto himself, while the other former members of Akatsuki had been recently put on limited parole under ANBU surveillance. But all of them had one thing in common besides their classification: a strong personal connection to their SS-rank Nanadaime Hokage. It was Naruto alone who kept some of them sane after the horrors witnessed in the war and after.

Most of the nine ninja were fidgeting. Half of the reason was because of the sight in front of them. Naruto had not had anyone clean the mess left behind from the assassination attempt. While some were accustomed to such sloppiness, having been invited inside his first apartment, they knew the corpses and broken furniture had been deliberately left there. The mess was the reason they had been summoned.

The other half of the reason for their discomfort was distrust. Old wounds did not heal so easily.

"Do not think that our opinions of you have changed during these past ten years," Shino _growled_ at Kabuto and Suigetsu. "Your crimes are still unforgivable, no matter what Hokage-sama thinks."

"And do not assume that Naruto-kun has forgiven us, _any of us,_ even though it's still in his nature to forgive easily," Kabuto shot back. The reply took Shino aback; did Naruto actually hold a grudge, even if minor, against his friends?

"I wonder..." Sai commented, scratching his chin, "if Kabuto fused with the giant snake because he was trying to compensate for a tiny penis?"

_Leave it to Sai-koi to say the wrong thing at the wrong time,_ Ino mentally groaned. She didn't know it was Sai's intention to pick a fight with the ex-nukenins.

"You dare say that about the mastermind of the Fourth Shinobi World War?" Suigetsu snarled. "Clearly you don't have any idea how much balls it takes to do so."

"I must disagree. It says in one of the history books I've read that wars are always started by cowards, and it's a common belief that cowards don't have as much balls as you imply Kabuto has. Then again, I suppose you would know if I'm wrong, since you know him far better than I." Suigetsu's eyes glazed over in rage. Did Sai really just imply that Suigetsu and Kabuto had been gay for one another?

"Also," Sai continued, ignoring the tick mark on Suigetsu's forehead, "it's plain to see that you're doing some heavy compensating yourself, due to your obsession with large swords and flashy techniques. And your peculiar ability to turn yourself into water certainly can't help your size issues, either."

"That does it, you're-"

"What the actual fuck is going on here!" a new voice shouted, breaking down the door with a Mokuton technique.

"Yamato-taichō…" Ino gasped, shaking; Yamato already had his trademark creepy glare focused on the sorry lot of ninja in Naruto's office.

Yamato wasn't having any of it: "Is it not possible to leave you alone for five minutes without having to restrain you to make sure you don't pull this kind of shit? Hokage-sama would be _deeply_ disappointed in all of you if he were the one who just walked in on this pathetic scene. Next time, I won't think twice about trapping you in my wood if that's what it takes to make you children behave."

"Oh, and _you're_ not going too far either?" another voice questioned Yamato. Everyone recognized it immediately and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Naruto-otōto!" Sakura called.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," Naruto announced. "Yamato-taichō and I had to reinforce the Hokage Tower to make sure it doesn't come crashing down on us during this meeting." That immediately triggered a wave of murmurs amongst the assembled ninja.

"While I'm certain this isn't a prank, Naruto, I do not appreciate the timing of your summons," a very irate Hiashi spoke up. "My, ahem, mistress and I were in the middle of attempting to conceive a child." _Screw what the others think of me for using a mistress,_ he thought. _I just can't marry again, not after my family was so thoroughly destroyed._ Naruto was quite familiar with the reasons why Hiashi hadn't remarried, and he didn't blame the Hyūga patriarch in the slightest.

"That is way too much information for my virgin ears, Hiashi," the Nanadaime replied, subtly referring to the fact he has never had sex or even dated anyone despite the hundreds of attempts to set him up with someone. Losing Hinata really had hit him that hard. "I apologize for the bad timing, but I promise you, this is more important than trying to save your clan."

"Oh?" Hiashi raised an eyebrow at those words, an extraordinary reaction for a Hyūga.

"The ten of you were summoned here due to a failed assassination attempt made against me by the remnants of the Foundation, and around you, you can see the results of said attempt. Thanks to Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan, which Sakura-nee-chan saw fit to give me in secret ten years ago, I was able to learn the reason they attacked, and while Sai was gathering most of you, I spent that time finding the proof I needed to confirm their motive. I warn you, what I'm about to share with you during the course of this meeting may be the most damning knowledge some of you have ever learned.

"But first," he continued, "I'm going to need Ino to enter my mindscape to retrieve the ROOT nin's memories."

"Got it," Ino said. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!" she called out without performing the technique-specific hand seal, no longer needing to use it after ten years of pushing her mental abilities to the limit. Sakura caught her as she started to fall onto the floor, while Naruto slumped backward in his chair.

* * *

><p><em>Inside Naruto's Mindscape<em>

Each time Ino used her clan techniques to enter Naruto's mindscape, the surroundings seemed to have deteriorated even more. The first time she saw the sewer that contained Kurama's cage, it had been greatly depressing, knowing how much Naruto had to be suffering for his mindscape to take such form. Ten years later, the scene was far more depressing, as the sewer walls showed major signs of decay, and Ino could have sworn she saw a few storm clouds brewing overhead.

_Was Naruto really broken that much by Hinata's death?_ Ino wondered. She was then broken out of her thoughts by a familiar roar.

**"What you see here,"** a deep voice roared, **"is the result of ten years of agony brought on by the war and its aftermath. My jailor and partner knows and accepts with every fiber of his being that he is destined for an eternity of misery. This is the fate of all jinchūriki. Though I had begun to hope that Naruto would change this fate, as he changed so much else in this world."**

"Hello again, Kurama-sama," Ino said.

**"I cannot say it's a pleasure to see you again, Yamanaka-san, given the circumstances of this meeting,"** the now identified Kurama replied. **"However, it is pleasant to note how greatly your skills with your mental techniques have improved over the years. Had we been able to allow this timeline to continue, you could have surpassed Senju Hashirama in mental ability."** It had been forgotten by most of the survivors that the reincarnated Shodai Hokage had used telepathy to direct the Allied Shinobi Forces against Uchiha Obito and the Shinju during the war.

"What do you mean by allowing this timeline to continue?"

**"Naruto has already decided to go back in time using the same technique tou-san used to appear in his mindscape. This is the purpose of this war council he called this evening." **Ino had _not_ expected that response at all. She recovered quickly enough, however.

"Then why even summon anyone if we're not going to remember this meeting?"

Kurama growled. Naruto may have conquered the Kyūbi's hate, but he was still easily annoyed by humans. **"You have made two incorrect assumptions, Yamanaka-san. First, you assumed that Naruto would not be able to glean any useful insight from his comrades which would allow him to devise a better plan for dealing with his enemies and mistakes. And second, you assumed that Naruto and I would be alone in our venture. He intends to bring some of his allies with him."**

Ino's eyes widened at Kurama's reply. "But wouldn't it be safer to not include anyone else in his plan? The more of us who go back with him, the greater the odds of being discovered."

**"For his plan to succeed at all, it must be revealed to select others. Naruto knows he'll need the support of friends in high places, who can be trusted completely, to have any chance of realizing his new ambition. And when the plan inevitably goes to shit, he will need their support even more to successfully adapt."**

The short pause in his speech made Ino very nervous. **"Even if the risk of including others in this plan outweighed the benefits, Naruto has no desire to go at this alone. The kōzō was taught a very important lesson by Uchiha Itachi during the war. It was from Itachi that Naruto finally learned not to carry his burdens and try to solve all of his problems alone. Doing so would have eventually turned him into another Madara. Having taken Itachi's words to heart, Naruto refuses to reset the timeline without letting at least some of his friends keep their memories of what was never meant to be.**

**"With that being said, Yamanaka-san, I suggest you make haste in locating the memories relevant to this meeting."**

"I'm not here merely to retrieve the memory of the ROOT cell's leader. I'm here to copy and distribute it among my friends and comrades."

That last statement earned a raised eyebrow from Kurama. The implications of that statement, and what it meant to the plan, were a wholly new degree of astounding. **"You just secured your place as one of the comrades Naruto will take back in time with him, Ino,"** he said. The fact he called her by her first name instead of her clan name was not lost on Ino. She knew Kurama had just been impressed, which was not an easy feat to accomplish.

**"Before you go to locate and copy the assassin's memory,"** Kurama added, **"I would also suggest copying the memory of the meeting Naruto had with Kabuto while your husband was rounding up this war council. The images of each page he read in the Sandaime's black book he committed to memory are astonishingly clear. It would be much easier to reveal the truth to everyone this way, via your ****Shindenshin no Jutsu****, than if Naruto had to explain everything alone."**

"Got it, Kurama-sama." She did not hesitate in following the exact path the Kyūbi laid out for her.

* * *

><p><em>Back in the Hokage's office...<em>

Ino awakened after just two minutes of real time. In many cases, she had taken far longer with her target, wanting to snoop around to get the lowdown on more personal details, but tonight she was all business. Everyone present here saw that as a good sign.

"Do you have the memory, Ino?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, plus one more," Ino replied. "Kurama-sama also had me retrieve the memory of your meeting with Kabuto. He wants us to break the news to everyone together."

Naruto sighed. Outwardly he showed no other reaction, but he was very upset with Kurama. His bijū still hadn't learned how to ask permission to intervene in affairs off the battlefield.

"So be it," he grumbled. "There is one more thing I require of everyone present in this room. I require a promise that no matter how you react to the sins which will soon be revealed, none of you will attempt to destroy Konoha in retribution. None of the villagers are guilty of what transpired. They are victims, just as I am. If you cannot make that promise, leave now."

Wait, what? was the general thought of everyone present. Just how bad could this information be if Naruto was demanding a new confirmation of their loyalty prior to revealing it? How much anger was Naruto continuing to hold back?

"Naruto-baka," Sakura said in a dangerous tone of voice, "just get on with it. Our loyalty to you is absolute, otōto. I can see in your eyes why you'd be doubting us, but it still makes me sick that you would doubt your nee-chan, or any of your friends. We're sticking with you no matter what, _believe it."_ Everyone else, even Hiashi and Suigetsu, who along with Sakura were the ones whose possible reactions Naruto questioned the most, nodded their heads at this to show their stance on this matter. Ino and Kakashi also chuckled at Sakura's deliberate use of Naruto's old catchphrase.

Naruto was actually in awe at their response. He truly hadn't expected his fierce loyalty to rub off on his comrades like this. _Comrade is definitely the wrong word, though. They're all nakama now._

"Guys...thank you, all of you." It was almost enough for Naruto to shed tears of joy. That he couldn't was another testament to how deep his emotional scars ran. "Ino, let's begin."

"Right," Ino said. "Shindenshin no Jutsu!" she called, again not needing any hand seals to execute the technique. Within seconds, everyone in the office was telepathically linked to one another, with Ino's mindscape as the central hub.

_"This is weird,"_ Karin said through the mental link; Team Taka had been among the few who never experienced telepathy during the war. _"I don't know how anyone can put up with this."_

_"Endure it, Karin,"_ Naruto ordered. _"Show them every single page in the Sandaime's black book, Ino. They won't need to see the ROOT nin's memory after they see this."_

_"You don't need to tell me once, much less twice,"_ Ino retorted. Naruto's memories started flashing through the minds of everyone present, and some of them were astonished by the quality of the images they viewed. If Ino wanted, she could reproduce Sarutobi's journal simply by hooking herself up to one of the Mind Reading Amplification Machines inside the Konoha Intelligence Division and printing out copies of each frame in the viewed memory.

The first details of the Uchiha Clan Massacre did not faze anyone here. Kakashi had revealed the truth of the Massacre, at least what he knew, after Naruto's return from exile, saying it no longer needed to be kept secret now that the Uchiha were confirmed extinct. It was when they read about the Sandaime's plans for Sasuke, Clan Restoration Act included, that waves of disgust started rolling over them. Like Naruto, everyone else lost their respect for the Sandaime almost instantly.

The revelation that Hiruzen had allowed Orochimaru to escape from Konoha when his forbidden experiments were exposed didn't affect anyone nearly as much, so it was quickly passed over.

A rage greater in magnitude than Naruto's overtook Hiashi when Ino started showing the pages detailing the Hyūga Incident. Almost the entire Main Branch had been against him until Hiruzen and Danzō gave the order to murder Hitomi, making it appear she had died on a mission. As he went over the journal entry, he also felt Naruto's sadness and rage, as did everyone else. Kakashi, Hiashi, Sakura, Ino, Karin, and even Sai were brought to their knees by the raw agony that overwhelmed Naruto when he read this.

All of them were taken aback when they also felt something darker in Naruto's thoughts. Learning the full tragedy of Hinata's life had caused a strong desire for revenge to take hold over his heart. Naruto had no greater wish than to destroy everyone who had stayed the course of hurting her.

Sakura was completely floored by the intensity of his emotions. _Naruto...his desire to avenge all the wrongs done to her...it's stronger than the desire Sasuke had to avenge his clan…_

_Naruto-onii-sama's chakra is turning dark,_ Karin thought, _even darker than Sasuke's was…_

_"You're allowing your emotions to get the better of you, Naruto-sama, just like the Uchiha did,"_ Hiashi said. _"But in this one case, I cannot hold it against you. I just hope you won't blame me if my sword should taste the elders' blood before you get a chance to."_

_"Who says I'm going to blame you if you kill them first, Hiashi?"_ Naruto asked. _"You're the only person here who has a greater right to vengeance than me. I only lost the only person capable of loving me romantically. You lost your entire family. You get dibs on the elders, and you don't have to send me an invitation either."_

_"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. But if you're choosing not to partake in retribution against my clan, then who are you going to kill to sate your thirst for revenge?"_

_"Let the memory finish first, then I'll tell everyone my plan."_ Hiashi nodded at this as the others got back onto their feet.

The final abomination broke and hardened their hearts, and solidified their resolve. Learning that Hiruzen had manipulated Naruto's entire life to this extent, just to transform him into a weapon and deny him his two dreams, fanned the cold flames of hatred lit in the hearts of everyone gathered to witness the exposure of this sin. They now knew why Naruto said both he and the villagers were victims of the Sandaime's machinations. Every single one of them had been used, and unlike the Sandaime, they at least had been repentant when Naruto proved himself.

Slowly, a greater realization started to sink in. Naruto was going after the Sandaime himself, along with the Konoha Council. But how did he plan to tarnish their legacy?

They would soon learn that wasn't Naruto's plan at all. Why destroy the Sandaime's legacy when you have a chance to turn back time and destroy the Sandaime himself?

"This timeline is beyond saving," Naruto said aloud. Ino took that as her cue to end her Shindenshin broadcast. "There's far too much that has gone wrong here, and I will not try and reform a world that has been so badly damaged by the corruption of our predecessors. But I still plan to keep my promises to you. The only question is when."

"Just what are you planning, Naruto?" Hiashi asked.

"Shortly before I summoned all of you here, I thought back on how completely I failed to keep the promise Sakura-nee-chan had me make to her after the war. The idea happened when I thought about how the Rikudō Sennin showed up in my mindscape while Sakura-nee-chan was trying to save me. Then I checked the Forbidden Scroll of Seals and found out that the jikūkan ninjutsu Hagoromo-jiji used had actually been recorded by Shodai-sama. In short," he said, unrolling the Scroll of Seals onto the broken desk in front of him, "the plan is time travel."

If a pin were to be dropped inside that room, everyone present would hear it as loudly as if Kakashi had just hit someone with the Raikiri. Nearly everyone looked at Naruto with some form of disbelief written on their faces.

"Did you really just suggest going back in time, Hokage-sama?" Yamato asked, incredulous, summarizing the thoughts of nearly everyone else.

"We've actually done it before, Yamato-taichō. Sure, Dad erased our memories of the whole thing, but I started having dreams about the mission and was able to fully recover the lost memories during my exile to Kumo."

"So _that's_ what happened on the failed mission to capture Mukade?" This time it was Sakura asking. Naruto nodded. "Holy fucking shit, Naruto-baka," she gasped. "The implications of this are _huge_. There's so much we could change if it's actually possible to repeat that."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "It is, but I'm going to have to sacrifice a lot of my power to do so, maybe permanently." His eyes glazed over for a few seconds, which did not come as a shock to anyone in his office; they all knew he had frequent conversations with Kurama now that the jinchūriki and bijū were on good terms. "Looks like Kurama wants to take over explaining this stuff."

**"How annoying,"** Kurama said just two seconds after Naruto notified the others he was about to switch control with his bijū. **"The kōzō still gets on my nerves with alarming frequency."**

"How do you even put up with my baka otōto?" Sakura asked.

Kurama-possessed Naruto rolled his red, slitted eyes. He would not dignify that with a verbal answer. **"In any case, anyone who goes back in time with Naruto via the ****Kokugen Henkō no Jutsu**** will revert back to the physical condition we were in at the time we choose to return to. Any and all knowledge and memories we have of this timeline will be retained, but since your bodies will be younger, certain abilities may have to be reacquired. Naruto will lose his Rinnegan and will likely be unable to access Sage Mode until he either signs the Toad Contract again, or his chakra reserves return to the level he achieved during his teenage years, I'm not sure which. And since I will be locked away in that infernal Shiki no Hakke Fūin again, he will not have access to my chakra beyond the version one Bijū cloak, and even then, he won't be able to draw upon more than a single tail's worth of chakra. He will also have issues with retraining his muscle memory to be able to properly access some of the taijutsu styles and ninjutsu he didn't have at that point in the original timeline.**

**"The powers of the Rikudō Sennin are required to activate the time travel jutsu, which will take three minutes to perform correctly. Needless to say, those powers will be lost when Naruto returns to the past, so there will likely be no more chances after this, even if our trip back through time will allow my tou-san another chance to journey across the timestream to visit Naruto. And even with the sacrifice required to activate the jutsu, he will only be able to take a maximum of three others along with him.**

**"Naruto and I have already agreed that Yamanaka Ino will be one of those three, due to her ability to copy the memories of others. The purpose of this meeting is to decide who else will be going back with him,"** Kurama finished before relinquishing control of Naruto's body.

"Ino-pig," Sakura said a little too sweetly.

"Yes, Billboard Brow?"

"Why the _fuck_ did you never tell me that you learned how to copy memories?"

"You _do_ realize I'm married to Sai-koi now, yes?" was Ino's reply.

"What does that have to do with this?"

"Everything, Forehead! He's former ROOT, and it's ROOT that tried to kill Naruto tonight! I know how their minds work. It was way too dangerous to let _anyone_ know I could do this. If they found out, they would have attempted to capture and convert me to their side."

"I'm siding with Ino-chan on this one, nee-chan," Naruto said. "As everyone here knows, I spent a long time in Kumo right after the war ended and Kakashi-sensei ordered me to go into exile when the Daimyōs took over. The higher-ranking ninja there adopted a certain saying: 'If two people know it, it's not a secret.' And with ROOT still running around in Hi no Kuni even after Danzō-me's death, they definitely would've tried to make Ino disappear if anyone else knew. From the sound of our conversation, her jutsu is a major threat to them."

Sakura relented. Naruto was right: Ino had become more proficient in mental ninjutsu than anyone else in the history of the shinobi world, and that made her a big target for anyone who learned of her abilities. ROOT would have tried to enslave or assassinate her, the latter only if the former was impossible to achieve. Also, it's not like Naruto could do anything to punish her, not when her mental powers were a key part of his plan.

"Regardless, I believe now is the time for you to explain the particulars of your technique, Ino," Naruto continued, re-entering Hokage Mode.

"Okay then," Ino said. "The technique I used to copy your memories is actually an extension of a more powerful defensive ninjutsu I developed called Kioku Sōki no Jutsu. It allows me to psychically interfere with an opponent's ninjutsu and cancel it, if I happen to possess a memory of the technique that's being used against me and activate the technique just before they finish weaving hand seals. Sadly, the technique is flawed since it only works against ninjutsu which require hand seals. Techniques like your Rasengan and its many variants, Naruto-sama, would be unaffected, as would any technique the user has mastered to the point of no longer needing hand seals to perform. The necessary extensions of the technique to maximize its usefulness are Kioku Fukusei no Jutsu, which allows me to copy a target's memories, and Kioku Tensō no Jutsu, which allows me to transfer the copied memories to others."

"What's the difference between this 'memory replica', as you call it, and simply retrieving the target's memories through the standard mind transfer?"

"Well, Naruto-sama, the regular Yamanaka clan techniques are more limited. Using the standard techniques doesn't actually let me keep any memories I view from the target unless I myself commit them to memory the normal way. This puts a limit on the length of the memories I can retain. However, Kioku Fukusei allows me to copy and retain a far longer span of the target's memories. If need be, I could store away a copy of the target's entire life from their perspective.

"And let's say I need you to copy fifteen years' worth of memories from multiple targets. How many people's memories would you be able to copy under that condition?"

"I've only had the ability developed for about a year, so I don't know what the maximum limits are yet. Furthermore, being a Yamanaka puts me at a disadvantage compared to if I were a Senju. But I think I can handle up to four others, Naruto-sama. But I wouldn't recommend copying Forehead Girl's memories because of Inner."

Naruto nodded, remembering what Ino referenced with her advisory. During the Chūnin Exams, Naruto's shouting had caused Sakura to become aware of Ino's presence inside her mind, and her Inner Sakura had forced Ino out, rendering the Shintenshin no Jutsu useless. There was a strong chance that if they only took Sakura's memories back in time and not Sakura herself, Inner Sakura would interfere with any attempt to give Sakura her memories back, leaving them stuck with a useless comrade until she had her wake-up call again.

"So nee-chan is coming back in time with us," Naruto spoke softly. Then his trademark idiot grin broke out for the first time since the war ended. "Sweet!"

"That is not the wording I would have used, but I am in agreement with Ino-san and Naruto-sama," Shino added. "Why, you ask? Because I cannot help but remember that Sakura-san and Ino-san were the two worst fangirls in history back during our last year in the Konoha Academy."

Sakura's head dropped after hearing that. "Were we really that bad when we were younger?" she wondered.

"Yes," everyone except Naruto and Ino replied. Sakura only sulked even further.

"Enough with the guilt tripping," Naruto ordered. "Let's hurry and figure out who the last time traveler's going to be. We can't think that ROOT doesn't have any other assassins out there, and we can't afford to waste anymore time in this sorry excuse of a future. Keep in mind that it has to be someone who has a valid reason why we can't just copy their memories and return them to their owner upon our arrival in the past."

"Well, I'm out," Kakashi said. "There's nothing stopping Ino-chan from giving my past self my memories, as long as she does it on the day of team assignments."

"I, too, should not physically partake in the Kokugen Henkō no Jutsu," Sai said. "It will be some time before Danzō would assign me to spy on you, Naruto-sama, and if he discovers I have memories of the history we intend to erase, it would not bode well for anyone in Konoha."

"Personally, I would rather not have knowledge of this timeline when we reset it," Shino piped in. "My clansmen would be quicker to notice suspicious behavior than most, were I to join you in this venture."

"There's just one problem with that, Shino-kun," Ino said.

"Would you enlighten me, Ino-san?"

"There is no way in hell Suigetsu and I are going back with Naruto-onii-sama," Karin answered for Ino. "I don't know where my teammate from Hebi was or what he was doing before he was captured by Orochimaru, but it is far too much of a risk for me to go back to the hell the snake bastard had me confined to. Just like Sai, if I go back, we risk an enemy finding out what we're not supposed to know. Taking our memories with you is also a no-go for that reason."

Now it was Kabuto's turn: "I would be far more careful and take every precaution against exposure, of course. That is, assuming I would still be on your side if I went back. The only reason I'm here now is because the reanimated Itachi broke free from my control during the war thanks to a gift he gave Naruto during the pursuit of Sasuke and trapped me in the ultimate visual genjutsu, the Izanami. Since the Kokugen Henkō no Jutsu doesn't say if we're merging with our past selves or actually reversing the flow of time, my knowledge and past make me a dangerous wild card. I could end up swinging either way. You'd have to find a way to replicate Izanami to ensure my allegiance to Naruto-kun."

"That leaves me or Yamato-san," Hiashi observed. "It is not my intention to offend Yamato-san or come off as arrogant, but I am the better choice to join Naruto-sama."

"No offense is taken, Hiashi-sama, and I agree," Yamato replied, speaking for the first time since his rude entrance. "Naruto will need to form many political connections as quickly as possible, and having the Hyūga Clan as an ally will provide him with a tremendous advantage in his endeavors."

"Plus, I need to be able to assist Naruto from the very beginning of our alterations to the timeline. We cannot afford to wait until the Chūnin Exam Finals for Naruto to change the hearts of the Hyūga."

"So it's decided?" Naruto asked, receiving nods from everyone present. "Ino, copy the memories of Kakashi, Kabuto, Shino, and, yes, you can copy your husband's memories as well."

Shino was not agreeable to that decision. "May I remind you, Naruto-sama, that I-"

"Objection overruled, Shino. I'm planning on taking us back to the day of our academy graduation exams. It's highly unlikely that we'll be able to change team assignments from what they originally were, and I want at least one time traveler on all three of the rookie teams. Taking your memories with us is the only way to make that happen."

"Understood." Shino thought Naruto should have copied Yamato or Karin's memories instead, but he understood the Nanadaime's reasoning. Plus, they were already taking Kabuto's memories, which would prove to be invaluable even if they couldn't get Kabuto back on their side.

Naruto turned to the ex-nukenins and said, "And don't worry, Karin and Suigetsu. Even though you two won't remember any of this, I'll make sure both of you are rescued from Orochimaru in the past as soon as possible. That's my promise of a lifetime to you."

Everything moved quickly after that. Naruto prepared a ritualistic circle on the floor indicating where the time travelers would have to stand while he cast the Kokugen Henkō no Jutsu, while Ino moved to the farthest edge of that circle to perform Kioku Fukusei no Jutsu on her husband, the Rokudaime, the Aburame heir and the Snake Sennin. None of the participants in this plan needed Naruto to elaborate further. They already had a good enough idea of what he planned to do. Any details they might have missed, Naruto would have plenty of time to explain after they were safe and sound in the past.

The consequences of the Sandaime's betrayal would create shockwaves across the timestream. And while Konoha would survive the coming storm, the shinobi world would soon be altered beyond recognition.

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter: How do Naruto, Sakura and Hiashi react to being in the past again? Stay tuned.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3: Hiashi and Naruto's Plan

_Chapter 3_

_Hiashi and Naruto's Plan_

_Hyūga Compound - Morning of the Graduation Exams_

Sleep was not something Hyūga Hiashi had much of a need for in his middle age. He'd trained viciously in his youth to eliminate all signs of weakness, both physically and mentally. As a result, he'd spent many nights alone in his office, thinking and doing things that were often unbecoming of a Hyūga.

That training made him grateful to Kurama for the bijū's decision to have him stay awake upon arrival in the past. He could easily take the loss of sleep in stride. It would allow him to get a precious head start on several matters of personal importance.

Highest on his list of priorities was reconciling with his daughters, though Hinata needed it more surely than Hanabi. Currently, he was sitting down at the foot of his eldest daughter's bed, watching over her sleeping form while he carefully chose the words he would say to her when she woke up.

Hiashi was tempted to cry at the sight of his eldest, from a mixture of joy and guilt. Joy that he had a second chance to make things right and be the father his daughters deserved, instead of simply the clan head who deprived his children of a proper childhood and drove them away. And guilt that he had done so, and knowing that most of his mistakes were not undone by his participation in the time travel scheme.

Being here, now - it felt surreal to the Hyūga patriarch. Hiashi had trouble believing that Naruto's plan worked (so far), that he was really in the past again, that fifteen years had been erased with a single jutsu.

He'd wanted to go back even further, to save Minato and Kushina and eliminate Hiruzen, Danzō and Obito before they could screw up Konoha as well as Naruto's life, but even the Rikudō Sennin's power had limits. Also, if they had been able to go back that far, the baby Sakura and Ino would have been overwhelmed, and it would have been up to Hiashi and Minato to do everything that needed doing. An unacceptable scenario. Fifteen years was the most ideal length of time to travel, given the circumstances. It would allow all the participants in Naruto's plan to become ready for war quickly, as well as allow Hiashi and Naruto time to set up a power base which would be used to facilitate their revolution.

Hiruzen, Danzō and the Konoha Council had to be eliminated, as did the five Daimyōs of the Elemental Nations. The power of the Daimyō itself had to be weakened; while many believed their influence was weaker than a Kage's, the cold fact of the matter is, they had the ability to destroy whole countries without a single act of aggression. It was happening now in Kaze no Kuni. It had nearly happened to Hi no Kuni in the future. It would _not_ be allowed to happen again.

Naruto's plan was ambitious. The threat of Akatsuki had brought the Elemental Nations together, but Naruto wanted to see if the same unity could be achieved without war or terrorism - although he admitted it might not be possible. Either way, his endgame was to unite every land in the region, both major and minor, into a single nation, or at least a federation if the goal of one shinobi nation couldn't be achieved by his generation. All of the Kages would lead together, chosen by the people to guide the people. It was almost the exact opposite of what existed currently. The system Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara created together had worked to bring some semblance of stability, but as long as it existed, lasting peace would forever elude the people of the shinobi world. The era of dictatorships needed to end, and while Hiashi worked behind the scenes to realign the political arena in favor of a revolution, Naruto would inspire the masses to make the revolution happen.

The old Hyūga Hiashi would have laughed it off as pointless drivel before pummeling Uzumaki Naruto into the ground.

_This_ Hyūga Hiashi knew Naruto just might have enough charisma to pull it off, and had wholly bought into the plan. _This_ Hyūga Hiashi had absolute confidence in Naruto.

But _this_ Hyūga Hiashi also knew the real reason why Naruto had gone back in time, rather than work with the conditions which could have made his plan work in the future. Yes, part of his motivation was revenge, and that was a necessary evil given everything they'd learned. But the primary force driving Naruto into the past, the very reason he continued to live, was sleeping in this bedroom right now.

But apparently she wouldn't be asleep much longer. Judging by the moans of "Naruto-kun" coming from Hinata's mouth, her dream was too intense to handle. Hopefully she wouldn't be too out of it to hear what his heart needed to say.

"Would you like me to get Naruto and bring him to you?" Hiashi prodded.

"Hai, Father," Hinata answered. Then, realizing what she just heard and said, her eyes shot open and she abruptly sprang up. "F-F-Father? W-w-what are y-you doing h-h-here?"

"Is a father not allowed to spend time with his daughter?" Hiashi said. Hinata was unable to answer, so he continued: "As I was saying, if you would like me to bring Naruto here for you, it'd be no trouble. Actually, I'm certain he would love to see you right now."

Hinata had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't still dreaming. She yelped softly. This couldn't actually be happening. Her father couldn't actually be in her room, telling her that Naruto-kun wanted to see her and that he was willing to make it happen.

Hinata, in an uncharacteristic act, activated her Byakugan, trying to expose the impostor in her room.

To say she was mortified when she discovered it was the real Hiashi and not a genjutsu or a Henge would have been the biggest understatement of the year.

_Naruto-kun _wants _to see me? _Hinata asked herself._ How can this not be a dream? _Having no knowledge of the future Naruto and Hiashi hailed from, Hinata still believed Naruto was hopelessly crushing on Haruno Sakura and would never want to see her, much less notice her. Hinata was _very_ suspicious of Hiashi, and kept her Byakugan focused on him.

Knowing what his eldest was thinking, Hiashi said, "Naruto-san may not know you that well, but he still wants to be close to you, even if he's had problems approaching you. When he found out about the way you were being treated here some time ago, he immediately confronted me about it." The second half was only half a lie; Naruto had confronted Hiashi in the future, but only after the Hyūga Massacre. "While the confrontation was painful for him, he made me realize just how pathetic I've been ever since your mother died. I owe him a great debt for opening my eyes to the suffering I put you through." Hinata gasped. Was her father trying to apologize to her for everything he'd done?

"Father..."

"I offer no excuse for driving you away from me, for belittling you each time you failed to meet our clan's expectations, for casting you aside like the worthless trash I am. I will not ask for your forgiveness, as I do not deserve it. But," here he paused to compose himself and drop down on his knees, causing Hinata to gasp again, "I am asking for a chance to start over and be the father I should have been all along. Will you give me that chance, my precious daughter?"

Hinata couldn't believe it, even though her Byakugan couldn't detect any signs of insincerity. Her father really had just asked for a chance to redeem himself and amend the mistakes he'd made as a father, and was willing to help bring her and Naruto-kun together. He'd even _kneeled_ in front of her, showing genuine humility. The scene in front of her was so extraordinary and extraordinarily heart-warming, she couldn't help but shed a few tears.

"Father, please get up," Hinata said, struggling to not give in to her overwhelming emotions yet. "Everything you just said...you'll f-forgive me if I have trouble believing it, yes?"

"Of course, my dear," Hiashi said, rising to his feet.

"You don't k-know how much I've wanted your acknowledgement, Father...to en-encourage me to keep trying when I failed, to h-hear you say that you w-were p-p-proud of me if I-I, if I su-succeeded…" Hinata paused to wipe away her tears and take a couple of deep, calming breaths, "You have a l-lot of work to do to prove this is r-real, otou-sama, to p-prove you've changed."

"I know, and I will." Hiashi drew Hinata into a tight hug, and they both gave in and started crying. "I'm sorry for what I've done, Hinata. I promise I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you, if you'll allow me that chance."

The two lost track of time as they held each other, letting out all their pent-up emotions at once. Eventually they managed to separate, but when they did, Hinata realized she couldn't go back to sleep. Or at least, she didn't _want_ to.

"Father," Hinata said, "w-when you said you would bring N-Naruto-kun here…"

"Do you still want me to do so?" Hiashi asked. Hinata finally lost it and started panicking.

"W-W-What are y-you th-th-thinking, Father? You c-c-can't bring him here!" she insisted, not quite yelling, but only because she just wasn't someone who could be a loud person.

"I have personal business with him that requires he visit the compound. If, after he and I are done talking, he is still here, would you be willing to see him?" Hiashi couldn't let Hinata know that seeing her is the personal business he had with Naruto, lest she faint and push the inevitable reunion to a more dangerous hour in the process.

"I-I...I..."

Hiashi sighed at her stuttering. At least she hadn't quite gone into full meltdown. "Just try not to be unconscious when he arrives."

Hinata didn't try to answer that with words and settled for a nod. Reluctantly, she laid back down, but couldn't fall asleep. Her mind was racing too quickly, trying to avoid emotional overload from the realization that Naruto-kun was coming here.

_Well, it's a promising start, at least,_ Hiashi thought as he left Hinata's room. On his way out, he was stopped by one of the maids in the Cadet Branch making her late night rounds across the clan compound.

"Hiashi-dono?" the Cadet Branch maid questioned, wondering why Hiashi was awake, his eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks and robes were moist with tears.

"How long do you need to stay awake?" Hiashi replied.

"My chores won't be finished until 0800 hours, sir. What do you require of me?"

"Only a small favor. I will need you to send Tokuma-san on an errand for me. Instruct Tokuma-san to find Uzumaki Naruto-san and let him know I wish to meet with him at a private location this weekend. Also instruct him to bring Uzumaki-san here from wherever he's currently training, if possible."

"Very good, Hiashi-dono. The task will be completed to your satisfaction, sir."

_Amazing, _Hiashi thought. _She didn't question why I wish to see Naruto. Most others in the clan would have protested to no small degree._ Hiashi was about to dismiss the Cadet Branch maid before another thought came to him. If he was going to win over the side branch and heal his clan, he needed to get to know them better, and gauging the maid's reaction to his request, she seemed like the best person to start with. "My apologies, miss, but I can't seem to remember your name. Would you be kind enough to jog my memory for me, please?" The maid gasped. Was Hiashi actually being polite to her? Did something happen recently to cause him to change? His one question was making her doubt everything she knew about the clan patriarch.

"It's Hisoka, sir," she hesitantly replied.

"Hisoka-san, what are your _honest_ thoughts towards the Hyūga Main Branch? Please do not fear punishment. As long as your answer is completely honest, I will not allow you to be punished." Hisoka gasped again. There was no way this could actually be Hiashi. Surprisingly, when she made a hand seal to activate her Byakugan, he made no move to stop her.

What in the world was going on?

After confirming that it was in fact Hiashi addressing her, Hisoka relaxed. "I...I hate most of the elders, Hiashi-dono. They abuse their power over us. Their children are little different from them. Actually, I'd say most of the younger Main Branch members are somewhat worse than the elders, sir."

"I see." It was a confirmation. Hiashi had observed increased discontent among Cadet Branch members in the future he hailed from. With the murders of his daughters and the absence of Naruto from Konoha, several Main Branch Hyūga had started showing increasing disdain for their underlings and servants, reverting back to the days before the Oto-Suna Invasion. It was a total disaster. By the time Naruto returned, the situation had required extreme prejudice in its handling. Under orders from Kakashi, the Hero of Konoha had been forced to kill nearly one-third of the Cadet Branch and almost the entire Main Branch to stop a full-scale internal war from breaking out and completely destroying the clan, a war which would have crippled Konoha were it to happen.

This time, Hiashi would destroy the core of the problem well before his clan could revisit the brink of self-destruction. A Hyūga Clan Massacre was very high on the list of things he would _not_ allow to happen in his lifetime.

"And what do you think about my eldest daughter, Hinata?" Hiashi continued.

"I...can't give you an honest answer, sir. We've been taught to hate her for her weakness, for everything about her that doesn't conform to their image of the clan. They believe she will destroy the clan if she is allowed the chance."

Hiashi was incensed, but not at Hisoka. "The arrogance and greed of the elders will destroy the clan more completely than Hinata ever could," he spat. "I am not ignorant of the rift between our two houses. If nothing is done to close that rift, the Cadet Branch will eventually revolt against the Main. The result of that rebellion will be nothing short of catastrophic, both to the clan and to Konoha. You have my word that from this day forward, I will do everything in my power to heal and unite the clan before it tears itself and our village apart."

Hisoka was in awe. Her Byakugan was still active and had not detected even a single trace of deceit in the Hyūga head's words. When did this change in him happen? "Hiashi-dono..."

"Hisoka-san, would you like to become my personal attendant?" The question further shocked Hisoka. Hiashi had just offered her complete protection from the elders. Yes, it also resigned her to further slavery, but she would only answer to Hiashi, if she accepted his offer. And she could feel it in her heart, that Hiashi-dono would not bow to the will of the elders any longer. A spark of defiance was clearly seen in his eyes, and it was...inspiring to her, for lack of knowledge of a better word.

Hisoka's decision was pre-made. "I would be greatly honored to serve you in your quest to save our clan, Hiashi-dono."

Her final shock of the early morning was seeing Hiashi smile as he dismissed her.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto's Apartment<em>

Naruto groaned as he crawled out of bed. He was extremely tired and his headache was worse than any he'd had for years, confirming that the Kokugen Henkō no Jutsu worked and he had returned to the past. He didn't need to look in a mirror for added confirmation; he was already feeling disorientation caused by turning back the clock fifteen years and having trouble adjusting to his smaller body. It sucked being short again. He also wasn't sure how he felt about losing the physical scars he'd accumulated, though he admitted to himself it was a relief not having to keep his right arm wrapped up in bandages anymore.

The first thing he would have to do is get reaccustomed to the strain his older body had frequently endured. It would not be an easy task at all, and would put his health at great risk despite his Uzumaki bloodline's powerful life force, but it had to be done. Every limit Naruto had ever had needed to be broken, and fast, if he was to have any hope of achieving his ambitions.

Ambitions...that was a weird way to put it, since saying that out loud would make him sound a bit like Sasuke, but it was accurate enough. Becoming Hokage, changing the world, these things were no longer dreams. Naruto had made his first dream happen for one night before pressing the reset button on the timeline, and he would make it happen again, after all opposition was eliminated and his revolution succeeded in uniting the Elemental Nations.

Naruto rubbed his eyes and looked around the apartment he remembered being given by the Sandaime. Contrary to what Naruto-haters (of which there were once again many) might have assumed, the apartment was actually in decent shape, minus the messes he'd left around because he'd never had anyone to teach him why it was important to do his daily chores.

Scratch that, the first thing he'd have to do is clean up this damned apartment, _then_ get reaccustomed to the physical disadvantages of being twelve and a half again and train to compensate for them, and become stronger than he'd ever been.

Clumsily dodging the empty ramen bowls and chopsticks scattered around his room, Naruto walked over to his window and opened the curtains, and groaned. The sky was still dark. Kurama had seen fit to deprive him of sleep.

_Kurama brought us back a few hours earlier than I would have preferred, _Naruto complained to himself as he changed into his orange tracksuit before making two sealless clones to assist with his chores. His bijū still heard the complaint.

_**"Be grateful that I did, gaki,"**_ Kurama said through their telepathic link. So, even though the seal was back to its original condition, the link was still intact. That was the first piece of good news Naruto received today. _**"If your memory is correct, you'll still have four hours before you have to leave to take the graduation exam. Make use of that extra time and get in as much training as you can."**_

_"Well, I already figured out _why_ you chose such an ungodly hour to return to. That doesn't mean I can't be at least a little upset about your sleep-robbing."_

Kurama was quickly annoyed by Naruto. _**"While I suppose you have to practice this childish behavior again to regain proficiency in the art of playing the idiot, I would much appreciate it if you could remain mature while conversing with me. I will not tolerate any genuine slips into your pathetic former self."**_

_"Alright, alright! Do you still think I'm that stupid?"_

_**"It is a question worth asking."**_

_"I salute you with my middle finger,"_ Naruto shot back, sending Kurama a mental image of him giving the Kyūbi no Yōko the finger.

_**"Did you truly change at all during the war?"**_ Kurama taunted, returning the image of Naruto flipping him off with his own middle finger salute. _**"Or was your misery the true mask?"**_

_"Don't you fucking dare go there, Kyūbi,"_ Naruto warned him. The dangerous tone in Naruto's voice actually made Kurama shiver in fear and think twice about egging on his container.

_**"Noted. In the meantime, I suggest hightailing it to Training Ground 26, the farthest ground from Konoha and the only one that is used less often than the Forest of Death. I estimate that you'll have to use two hundred Kage Bunshins to practice chakra control and get it to an adequate level to compensate for the current status of my seal. I would prefer it if you could actually perform the **__**Bunshin no Jutsu**__** correctly this time around."**_

_"How much would that change?"_ Naruto wondered as his clones finished picking up the dirty dishes and laundry and moved on to making the bed. Cleaning up was turning out to be much easier than he first thought. _"If I actually pass the test, Mizuki might not try to trick me into stealing the Scroll of Seals again, and I wouldn't have a reasonable explanation for how I can perform __Kage Bunshin no Jutsu__."_

_**"If that happens, have Kakashi vouch for you, once Ino restores his memories. Also make sure that he utilizes the memory transfer aspect of Kage Bunshin in his own training this time around."**_

_"Eh, I suppose that might work. I still think it'd be easier to just steal the scroll again, but I might have problems convincing Sandaime I was manipulated by Mizuki and I doubt he'd believe I did it because I found out Mizuki was a traitor but did what he asked me to anyway to expose his treachery."_

_**"Yes, I've already noticed that you will have problems maintaining your old attitude from the original timeline. The more observant characters of Konoha will see in your eyes what no amount of acting can conceal. While I cannot blame you, knowing what you suffered, these difficulties will pose a serious risk to our plans. I would give it a week at most before some of your friends, as well as our enemies, start growing suspicious."**_

_"Man, Kurama, you're not letting up at all, are ya?"_

Kurama continued as though Naruto hadn't spoken: _**"You know this already, but Danzō is the one you must watch out for the most. He is thoroughly entrenched in the shadows and he WILL notice something about you is off. Once he becomes aware that you're not who you're supposed to be, he may try to capture and conscript you into the Foundation. Without access to my full power, you have no hope of taking him down early, and may have to rely on Jiraiya and Tsunade to do so."**_

_"That's not an option. Unless we can prove them innocent, we have to assume that Ero-sennin and Baa-chan are guilty." _Naruto looked around his bedroom to make sure he and his clones had cleaned up everything. Time to move on to the kitchen. _"At least, I'm pretty certain Ero-sennin is guilty," _he continued in a more somber tone. _"He would have been involved in my life a lot sooner if he wasn't involved in the Sandaime's cluster-fuck of a plan. But we don't have a damn clue about how involved he is or isn't."_ Kurama acknowledged Naruto's suspicion and his reasons, and chose to leave it at that for now. Unfortunately, there wasn't a single mention of Jiraiya in _Sandaime Hokage's Failures_ at all. Not knowing whose side the closest thing Naruto ever had to a father was on was gravely concerning. Even worse, there was absolutely no way to discover the self-proclaimed Super Pervert's true allegiance until the Chūnin Selection Exams brought him back to Konoha and put him within Ino's mind-fucking range. So for now, Naruto had to assume Ero-sennin was in on the conspiracy to control his life.

The reliance Naruto had on Ino in this grand scheme of his was also troubling. Naruto hated to admit it, but Ino was currently the most valuable member of his inner circle, arguably more valuable than Naruto himself, at least until he acquired the key to unlock the seal again. Naruto would be heavily reliant on her mental ninjutsu to weed out any possible conspirators who weren't mentioned in the Sandaime's black book. He absolutely couldn't afford for her to be discovered. Unlike him, Ino didn't have enough power to defend herself if she was compromised.

"Alright, the rest of the chores can wait until after the Academy," Naruto announced to his clones. "For now, we need to make sure the bastard Sandaime can't spy on us at will. You," he pointed at one clone, "should use Tōton Jutsu to sneak into Hokage Mansion and use Raiton to disable the Sandaime's crystal ball."

"Aye aye, cap'n!" Cloneruto number one replied, mock saluting. The original rolled his eyes as his clone vanished from both his sight and sensory range before opening the front door and leaving towards his destination. Right then, Naruto noticed he had a _major_ problem: his sensory abilities had _greatly_ diminished with the loss of Sage Mode and Negative Emotions Sensing. Knowing that he had lost most of his sensing, if he couldn't detect his own clone, how would he be able to accurately judge their stealth ability and make sure no one else could detect them?

"And you," Naruto addressed the other clone, "I need you to go to Sakura-nee-chan's place and get about two weeks' worth of soldier pills and sealing supplies with her. I'm going to send another clone to Suna and try to befriend Gaara before the Chūnin Exams begin. And trust me, she'll be awake. Inner will make sure of it."

"Good luck with that!" Cloneruto number two said, closing the apartment door behind him. Naruto sighed. He made a mental note to create a fūin kekkai (sealing barrier) that would keep unwanted visitors out later.

_**"Impressive foresight,"**_ Kurama commented after the second clone left to carry out his task.

_"Why thank you, Kurama,"_ Naruto replied, sending his prisoner an image of a mock bow. _"Now how do we deal with Neji before the Chūnin Exams?"_

Kurama's face met the sewer floor loudly. He was utterly stupefied. _**"Why in the nine circles of hell are you asking me that?"**_

_"I don't have __Negative Emotions Sensing__ anymore! I can't know if it's possible to get rid of his hatred towards Hinata without a fight, and I'd really rather not risk any Hyūgas aside from Hiashi and Hinata finding out I'm stronger than I'm supposed to be. Also, if I somehow get lured into a close quarters or taijutsu-only match against him before I've rebuilt myself, I'm probably screwed, even with your chakra negating most of his Jūken."_

Kurama conceded the point, but added, _**"There are other ways to crush Neji's arrogance and free him of his hatred and wretched enslavement to fate. But you are right to have this concern. Your infamous Talk no Jutsu won't work on its own, so you will need some show of force to back it up. He is similar to Uzumaki Nagato and Uchiha Obito in that regard." **_Naruto nodded; he already agreed it would come to a fight before he could convince the leaders of Akatsuki to change their ways again. He really didn't want that to hold true for Hyūga Neji as well.

"Looks like it's time to get to training," Naruto said aloud. "Maybe it'll help me sleep better tonight."

Kurama snickered at his jailor's misfortune. He couldn't help but deliver a parting shot after hearing that: _**"Oh, and Naruto?"**_

_"Yes, Kurama?"_

_**"You really should be more grateful that I kept you awake. You would have revisited **_**that **_**nightmare again if I'd let you sleep."**_ Naruto shivered after hearing that last remark. He had no will to _ever _experience the nightmare Kurama was talking about again.

* * *

><p><em>Haruno Residence<em>

Haruno Sakura was _furious_ with herself. She'd known there would be personal complications with her involvement (or potential lack thereof) in Uzumaki Naruto's plan, but she'd failed to anticipate they would already be _this_ bad. Not even five minutes after arriving in the past, Inner Sakura had seen fit to start a major argument with her, and she guessed the delay was only because Inner decided to play a very discriminatory game of catch-up with Sakura's memories.

Inner was a total enigma, even to its creator. Its personality was more or less an amplification of the most intense parts of Sakura's character. Her _old_ character, that is, since Inner had, at some point during Sakura's apprenticeship to Tsunade-shishou, simply vanished, and she didn't know why. But going back in time had reset her _entire_ physical and mental condition, and that included bringing back Inner.

Sakura sighed. Inner might have been a fascinating construct to study, if not for the fact she was the one stuck with it.

Nonetheless, there were three very important questions about Inner which needed to be answered quickly:

One, just what the hell was her Inner persona?

Two, when and how did it disappear the first time? Did it require Sakura to address her insecurities, or was it something else that dismissed the construct?

And three, was it for the best that it disappeared, or was there a way to make it useful?

"Useful? I sure don't feel very fucking useful right now," Sakura remarked after listing off the third question. Inner was giving her a serious migraine headache and was making it difficult for her to think of anything other than how to get Inner to shut the hell up, _especially_ about the abomination which, the first time around, Sakura had called "her precious Sasuke-kun". Sakura knew that fucking Uchiha was _not_ precious and she was dreading the chance that she might be forced to keep up the appearance of her old self, her thoroughly disgusting, hopelessly obsessed with sexing up Sasuke self.

At least she would _not_ waste most of her time pursuing him to no end. Uchiha Sasuke was dead to Haruno Sakura, emotionally speaking, though if Naruto-otōto couldn't figure out how to stop Sasuke from turning evil again, Sakura insisted on being the one who turned him to ashes. That is, if Ino-pig didn't break rank and destroy his mind the moment she arrived in the Academy.

Sakura sighed deeply. Thinking about how to deal with the Last Loyal Uchiha had brought up depressing thoughts about her nonexistent love life in the future. She had focused so completely on getting Sasuke in bed that she had destroyed any interest anyone else might have had in her as a possible girlfriend, or even as just a one-night stand. Had that future continued, she, just like her otōto, would have been forever alone. It was yet another debt she owed Naruto, another debt she could never repay.

But who could she possibly hook up with among the Konoha 12? Ironically, Naruto himself would have been the best option, but there was simply too much history between them to start over. Besides, she _liked _having the blond baka as a brother, and even if they weren't family in all but blood, Naruto's heart belonged to Hinata, and _only_ Hinata, and Sakura would be truly damned if she let anyone take the Hyūga princess away from her otōto again.

The other guys didn't even compare to Naruto, and each had their issues which made pursuing a relationship problematic. Rock Lee...Sakura shivered at the prospect of him crushing on her again. Lee was more annoying and persistent than Naruto had ever been, and far too energetic. Not to mention he was practically married to his training. How the hell Tenten got him to settle down was something even Ino couldn't figure out, and Ino was married to the only man in their age group who was a bigger piece of work. Sakura would have to shoot Lee down completely, quickly, before his obsession got out of hand. Chōji? Sakura wasn't superficial anymore, but the Akimichi deserved someone better than her. Shikamaru? He belonged to Temari, period. Kiba? Far too brash, wild and arrogant, plus Sakura had entertained the idea he might be gay, thanks to the Alpha mentality of his mother and sister. Shino? Already married as well; it would not surprise Sakura if Shino's marriage had been arranged while he was still in the Academy. And Neji? He was more or less a combination of several of the worst traits of Kiba and Shino; and besides, Hiashi-sama wouldn't approve despite her value as a medic. Hiashi would likely try to get Karin into the Hyūga clan through Neji, if an opportunity presented itself quickly enough.

Sakura sighed. She would have to look outside of Konoha's walls to find love.

_**"Or you could impress Sasuke-kun with the skills you learned in the future," **_Inner said. Sakura decked her over that.

_"For the last fucking time, bitch, I am NOT going to pursue _Uchiha-san _anymore!" _Sakura yelled with fury. She was about to start ripping her hair out. _"Now be a good figment of my imagination and SHUT UP! Shannaro!"_

_**"Why? He hasn't done any of those things!"**_

_"Keyword you deliberately forgot to add is 'yet,' Inner, and the fact remains, no matter how much you want to deny it, he did do them once before. I'm not about to forgive him, not now, not ever. And have you seen the memories of the war yet, or are you deliberately choosing to ignore all the worst moments? If you haven't, I suggest looking at the one where he stabbed me in the heart inside a genjutsu."_

Remarkably, that actually got Inner to shut up and think about what Sakura just said. The dominant persona had been acting far out of character, and Inner hadn't cared why that was so; it just wanted to rectify the issue it perceived. But like the old Sakura, Inner was almost incapable of recognizing that it was the one in need of an attitude adjustment.

Sakura, for her part, was even more disgusted with her old self after bringing up the memory of the genjutsu. Whatever bonds she and Sasuke shared in that future, he'd thoroughly broken them all. She could never even look at him again unless forced to.

"Having internal problems, nee-chan?" a muffled but familiar voice said from outside Sakura's bedroom window, tearing her away from her reverie. Sakura lifted up her window to reveal her favorite blond.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" Sakura hissed.

"The boss needs your help." Of course it had to be a Kage Bunshin! But Sakura knew it had to be important for Naruto to send a Kage Bunshin her way at 0330. "He needs soldier pills and sealing supplies, and no, it can't wait. He can't send another clone to Suna once he passes the exams today."

So Sakura knew now it was about Gaara. Yep, that was very important, indeed. "Alright, hold on for a few while I get dressed." Cloneruto nodded and turned around while Sakura closed the window and her curtain. Another advantage to having the resident knucklehead as her surrogate brother: he wouldn't be tempted to take a peek at her naked.

"Okay, I'm ready," Sakura announced two minutes later. She opened her window and climbed out, donning what Naruto remembered to be her favorite red shirt along with black shorts and sandals. "I do know of one place that's still open this late, but it normally only caters to upper-class or wealthy civilian families unless the customer has an unusual mission."

"And your parents are allowed to shop there, right?"

"Would I mention the place if they weren't, baka?"

Cloneruto rolled his eyes at the insult. He knew Sakura-nee-chan only said it out of habit and it was her main way of showing affection towards her otōto, but he wished she didn't have to stay in character so much. "Well, what are we waiting for, Sakura-nee-chan? Let's go!" Both of them hopped down onto the street; however, before they could start walking towards their destination, they noticed a flash of light coming from the direction of the Academy and Hokage Mansion.

"Oh, Naruto," Sakura said a little too sweetly, "care to explain what the hell you just did to the Hokage's office?"

Cloneruto shrugged. "Boss doesn't like being spied on."

"So he sent a clone to destroy the Sandaime's crystal ball?" The clone nodded. Sakura's mood took a sharp turn and she started laughing. "You are in so much trouble, otōto."

"It had to be done. We can't afford prying eyes." Another shrug from the clone. He was completely focused on his task and was currently incapable of humor. "Now that that's taken care of, can you please tell me where that shop you mentioned is?"

"Uh, sure, but there's no way you're walking in there as yourself."

"Of course there isn't." The clone rolled his eyes. "Kōdo Henge!" he yelled, transforming into a perfect replica of Haruno Mebuki. Sakura was struggling to not hit her surrogate brother.

"Too soon," Sakura muttered.

"We're not _walking_ there, nee-chan," Cloneruto pointed out.

"You're really going to use the Jikūkan Fūinjutsu: Hiraishin no Jutsu out in the open?"

"No, I was going to just do a basic Shunshin no Jutsu. But even if I did use Hiraishin, who's gonna notice this late at night?"

"Hmm…" Sakura dramatically adopted a thinking pose. Cloneruto didn't like the sound of her voice. Personal experience tried to tell him that Sakura trying to think of a bright idea...wasn't such a bright idea. "Why don't you drop the Henge and just follow me to Ino's house for now? That way, we can also try to figure out what we're going to do about the exams?"

Okay, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. The clone nodded his approval and did what was requested of him, returning to his normal appearance before using Shunshin to arrive at the Yamanaka Flower Shop with his creator's nee-chan.

* * *

><p><em>Training Ground 26<em>

For someone who was supposed to be the embodiment of light in this world, Naruto strangely had very little problem operating in the darkness. Then again, it should have been expected. In his future, Uzumaki Naruto had been the Hero of Konoha, the Child of Prophecy, the Savior of the Shinobi World, and ultimately, for a single night, was the Nanadaime Hokage. He had got there primarily through perseverance and his infamous Talk no Jutsu, convincing a majority of enemies to either switch sides or atone for their sins with an act of self-sacrifice. Doing so to the degree he had basically mandated spending a large portion of his life wandering through shadows, without succumbing to them. If someone in the future had been asked what Naruto's most powerful jutsu was, the Talk no Jutsu would have been their most likely answer.

Naruto actually wasn't sure yet how his reliance on the Talk no Jutsu in his effort to rewrite history would compare to its use in the original timeline. He had learned the hard way that even with all the power in the world to back up his words, some sentient beings simply couldn't undergo a change of heart, once they'd fallen a certain distance into the darkness. Some people just needed to die. And it had taken _her_ death to make him realize this painful fact.

But there were still a lot of enemies Naruto wanted to convert to his side this time around that he hadn't had the chance to before. Zabuza and Haku took priority; he'd considered them friends despite the fact they'd been on the wrong side of the battlefield, and even now, he owed his nindou to what they taught him in the brief time he knew them. Naruto would _not_ let them die this time.

Doing one last check of his surroundings, Naruto began to assess his physical situation. He needed to train his body rapidly, and needed to focus on speed, since he already had more stamina than almost all of his peers. His Uzumaki bloodline and jinchuuriki status more than compensated for a lack of physical strength, boosting his healing factor off the charts and giving him an enormous amount of chakra to use on high-level ninjutsu such as his trademark Kage Bunshin, which was by far the most effective force multiplier available. Speed was paramount for this reason; the faster he could move, the easier it was to avoid enemy attacks, allowing him to last longer and deal more damage in battle.

Normally, he would have sought out Maito Gai immediately, but he realized the attempt would be problematic, in more ways than one. While Naruto was certain that everyone in Team 9 was on his side, the possibility that Gai and Neji could be used as pawns against him couldn't be dismissed. Thankfully, he had alternative approaches. One, Naruto could just ask Kakashi to consult Gai; this would throw off suspicion, as having Kakashi ask for the training regimen would be seen as an effort to further Sasuke's training. Or two, he could fall back on his knowledge of fūinjutsu; Naruto knew how to make gravity seals and had also figured out how to apply them to opponents in the middle of combat. And Naruto would be the first to tell you that inflicting upon your enemies the strain of twenty times Earth's normal gravity was _not_ a pretty way for them to die.

Naruto hopped off that train of thought quickly. He was here for chakra control, not body building. He tried forming a Rasengan in his right hand, only to find he couldn't get it to stabilize. Naruto cursed under his breath, then tried again, this time using his left hand to help mold and shape the chakra. And again, it wouldn't form correctly.

"Craptastic," Naruto muttered. "I'm back to needing a damn clone for my dad's move, at least for now." He growled as he created two hundred clones via a sealless Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - why the hell was he still able to do Kage Bunshin sealless, but reverted to needing a Kage Bunshin to stabilize the Rasengan? - and had them start running up and down the nearest tree or on the river that flowed through the training grounds. "Kurama wasn't kidding when he said I needed to reestablish adequate chakra control." It wasn't a terribly daunting task, though. All he needed to do was discover how much the restoration of the Shiki no Hakke Fūin had affected his equilibrium. He already knew all the chakra control exercises he needed, and would have that issue resolved by the end of the day.

The sensing issue, however, would remain a thorn in his side for a while. Without his two greatest detection tools, Naruto couldn't sense the onlooker who was closing in on him.

From a rapidly decreasing distance, Hyūga Tokuma was observing the blond Uzumaki in the training grounds. His Byakugan, stronger than any other in the clan, allowed him the ability to see Naruto's chakra network and expenditures in exquisite detail, and what he saw caused him to tremble as he continued his approach.

Uzumaki Naruto was utilizing several of the advanced chakra control exercises only available after graduating from the academy and being accepted as a ninja, simultaneously, through an extraordinary number of Kage Bunshin. No Hyūga who ever lived had ever been able to make more than two Kage Bunshin, and even the Hokage was incapable of producing two hundred. But Naruto had done so, and Tokuma could tell that the exercises they were practicing were the only reason there were two hundred and not two thousand. The exercises were proof he also knew about the memory transfer ability of Kage Bunshin. Naruto had the ability to compress decades of training into one year.

The exercises Naruto was spamming were even more astonishing than his capacity to create that many Kage Bunshin. One group of twenty was running up and down trees; a second group was sparring on top of the river, practicing a taijutsu style Tokuma had never observed before; two more groups were harnessing Kaze (Wind) and Kaminari (Lightning) chakra; and - Tokuma gasped when he saw this - a fifth group was busy trying to stabilize and perfect control over the Rasengan, a technique created by the Yondaime Hokage.

Tokuma knew right away this was not the same Naruto who was dead last in the Academy. He knew Naruto did not possess any of the technique knowledge he currently displayed prior to this morning. And he knew there was no way the knowledge could have been granted to him. His eyes also ruled out the possibility of an impostor masquerading as Naruto.

For now, though, he continued to observe. It was easily possible that he was mistaken to rule out one of those scenarios, aside from the impostor bit. No technique existed that could successfully clone a human, and even then, a biological Naruto clone used to replace Naruto would not have the Shiki no Hakke Fūin to make him indistinguishable from the original.

Tokuma observed a chakra expenditure that seemed to be pointless. Then, a few seconds later, he gasped again when Naruto revealed a kunai which appeared to have a seal formula carved into the blade, tossed it fifty meters away...and then reappeared in a yellow flash at the kunai. Tokuma was frozen at the sight. Naruto had just used the Hiraishin!

That settled it in his mind. Hyūga Tokuma concluded that Uzumaki Naruto was a time traveler.

And that meant there was no way to predict the things of which he might be capable, but hasn't yet revealed.

As Tokuma continued his approach, he noticed the original starting to twitch involuntarily. That wasn't a good sign. Naruto was starting to panic. While Tokuma was confident he could defeat Naruto with his superior speed in spite of Naruto's ability to use Hiraishin - most Hyūga were consistently fast, which was required by their Jūken - he would rather avoid a fight if he could. Also, Hiashi-dono would not be pleased if Uzumaki-san was brought to the compound injured.

"If you're about to go meet the boss, then make haste, but do it calmly," Naruto's voice rang out from _behind_ Tokuma. A second later, a Kage Bunshin came into visibility, releasing his Tōton Jutsu. Tokuma jumped out of his skin for a moment, realizing now what the seemingly pointless chakra expenditure had actually been. On top of everything Naruto had displayed, he could turn himself or any of his clones invisible and render them undetectable by most sensing abilities!

_Who the hell are you, Uzumaki Naruto?_

"O-Of course, Uzumaki-san," Tokuma said. The formerly invisible Kage Bunshin dispelled and notified Naruto of Tokuma's presence.

Steeling himself, the Hyūga approached the Uzumaki, who was by now expecting him to come out into the open.

"My apologies for interrupting your training, Uzumaki-san, but Hiashi-dono has an important message for you," Tokuma said. He didn't miss Naruto's sigh of relief accompanying a look of recognition. Now wasn't the time to wonder when and how he and Naruto met in the future.

"Tokuma-san," Naruto addressed the elite Hyūga. "I was worried you might be someone I'd have to kill."

Tokuma's left eye twitched. _Naruto and the Hyūga Clan were mortal enemies in the future? _"Should I be relieved to hear that?"

"Make of it what you will. If Hiashi-sama trusts you, I guess I can try to as well."

"I see. I was sent here to inform you that Hiashi-dono and his eldest daughter wish for you to join them at the compound as soon as you can arrive there. Hiashi-dono also requests to set up a second meeting with you this weekend."

Naruto wasn't sure how to react to the message Hiashi delivered through Tokuma. He'd planned on putting off seeing Hinata as long as possible. Truth be told, he was deathly afraid of approaching her, due to all the regrets he'd accumulated in the future after her demise. Part of him was fervently arguing against the plan he'd decided on before traveling back in time, using all of his pent-up sorrow to create a new barrier between him and his love.

That part of him also told him it would be safer for her if he kept his distance. That it was necessary to stay away to prevent her from being targeted by his many enemies. Unfortunately, it was a very valid argument. Naruto knew exactly who his enemies and most of his potential enemies were this time-and they were far more numerous than they had been the first go-round, since he was going to be opposing the Sandaime's regime along with the Daimyō's. He wouldn't be able to completely conceal his changes in behavior, and didn't have a particularly strong desire to do so anyway. Sooner or later, Naruto's enemies would act on their suspicions, and the Uzumaki was betting on sooner.

But then how would Naruto be able to ensure Hinata was protected, if he couldn't be by her side? Who could he trust to keep her safe, if his power wasn't great enough to do so himself? And how would he help her become as strong as she needed to be to survive the coming storm, if he could not be her anchor?

The part of Naruto that was questioning his resolve could not provide satisfactory answers to those questions.

"I'll leave in one hour, Tokuma-san," Naruto said. "In the meantime, could I ask you to help me practice my taijutsu? I've had a few problems with a style I came across a while back and I want to work out all the kinks before my exams start."

Tokuma shook his head. "Hiashi-dono insists you come with me immediately. But I can leave a Kage Bunshin behind to help out your small army of them, if you'd like."

"I guess that works. Just let me dispel all of these clones to recover their chakra and make a new one to take over with the exercises; it'll be easier that way in case something else happens." Naruto would only remember why that was a bad idea right after the mass of clones poofed out of existence. The strain hit him much harder than it had back when he'd first been overcome by the stress of memory transfer during his wind manipulation training. But he did manage to make the solitary new clone before passing out.

Tokuma chuckled as he bent down to pick up the unconscious Naruto. "How long will Uzumaki-san be out of it?"

"Not that long," the clone replied. "I don't think my prisoner will appreciate the boss taking a snooze on the job." It slightly unnerved Tokuma that Naruto had referred to Kyūbi so casually around him.

_Once I deliver you to Hiashi-dono, you won't have any other choice but to sleep,_ Tokuma didn't say.

* * *

><p><em>Returning to the Compound<em>

The current advantage to nighttime for Tokuma was that very few people in Konoha were awake, thus he wasn't able to catch flak from civilians for carrying an unconscious Naruto on his back. Well, it's not like it would have fazed him either way, but the Hyūga _did_ have a certain image to uphold, at least for the time being. Hisoka's message to him, passing along Hiashi's orders, hinted at a potential major change in the clan.

After all, what reason could Hiashi-dono have for wanting to speak with the Uzumaki boy? Why would any Hyūga, sans Hinata-sama of course, want to associate with Konoha's social pariah? Tokuma did not question these things aloud-doing so would have risked him becoming a target of Hiashi-dono's wrath, even though he held no ill will towards the Uzumaki-but the order given to him by the clan head was profoundly out of character.

Tokuma arrived at the front gates of his clan's compound. The guards on duty glared at him for a second, but froze up due to a blast of killing intent directed at them from the least likely source.

"I see Uzumaki-san's tenant has pushed him a little far this morning," Hiashi observed, focusing his gaze on the unconscious blond on Tokuma's back.

"His current state is probably your fault too, Hiashi-dono," Tokuma said. "He was panicking at first when I found him, until it appeared as though he recognized me."

"The boy is not what he seems." It wasn't a question.

Tokuma replied as though it were: "I saw him make two hundred Kage Bunshin at once and utilize them in his training with great efficiency, sir. I also observed with my Byakugan that he probably could have made two thousand if he'd wanted. Uzumaki-san's potential exceeds that of everyone else in Konoha, without question. May the gods show pity on anyone who incurs his wrath."

_You have no idea how right you are, _Hiashi didn't say. His musing was cut short by a groan coming from the boy who they were talking about.

"Ugh...remind me to never dispel that many clones at once again," Naruto groaned as he hopped off Tokuma's back and rubbed his temples. "My head feels like I drank a small lake's worth of saké."

"I cannot sympathize with you there, Naruto-san," Hiashi said. "However, if you're capable of following me at this time, I can offer you the best remedy the gods will ever grace you with."

"That sounded like a _very_ poorly worded request for me to marry Hinata," Naruto remarked. Hiashi, Tokuma and even the guards chuckled at that one.

"Indeed. But you do not appear to be opposed to that possibility should it arise in the future. Now follow me. I cannot allow anyone to get the wrong idea by seeing you alone inside the compound." Naruto nodded, but stopped briefly, eyes widening. His first clone had apparently discovered a very interesting piece of information prior to dispelling.

"Is something wrong, Naruto-san?" Hiashi queried.

"I don't know. It's a potential possibility. But it also doesn't warrant immediate concern." Hiashi sighed at Naruto's slip into Hokage Mode. That was the last thing his compatriot needed to do in an area with hundreds of pairs of prying eyes, especially when said eyes had the reputation of being all-seeing. Even if none of those eyes were able to focus their gaze on him at the moment.

"At least try to act a little more like your old self," the clan patriarch advised the social pariah. "We've all become jaded, Naruto-san, but you must maintain your façade while not in a secure location, at least for the next six months. That's the minimum length of time we'll require to save Konoha from the sins of the generation in power."

Naruto scoffed. "I find it hilarious in an awful way that you're chastising my behavior and discussing the plan at the same time, considering where we are."

"I've already confirmed that aside from us, Tokuma-san and the guards, the only souls awake are Hinata-chan and a few of the Cadet Branch servants, and none of them are listening in on us. The compound is safe, if only for this morning." Hiashi shrugged. He was starting to grow weary of this conversation. "It might take some time to secure a new meeting place. Perhaps it would be best to just use Ino's telepathy in the future."

"Agreed." Naruto paused. "But six months may be way too long for us. If Kurama is right, Hiashi-sama, some of them will come after us within one, maybe two weeks, no matter how well we conceal ourselves behind our masks." Hiashi knew the "some of them" Naruto was talking about was ROOT. "The best I can do is keep the target on my back alone."

"Were we dealing with any other threat, I would leave you lying in the dirt and then criticize you for attempting to carry the burden alone. The very reason we are here discussing this together is because we cannot afford to stand alone. If we fail to maintain a united front, our plan will fall apart and we will end up creating a worse future than the one we came from."

The two spent the rest of their walk through the compound in silence. Naruto observed his surroundings with tempered fascination. He'd never been inside the compound, at least not before he nearly killed off the Hyūga clan, and then he hadn't been able to appreciate the interior design. It amazed him that a clan could adopt such a humble lifestyle and still suffer from almost unparalleled arrogance.

"We're here," Hiashi said, finally stopping on the sixth and top floor, which contained only a single room. It saddened them both to know the real reason why Hinata's bedroom was isolated from the rest of the main building. "If you were any other man, Naruto, this would be the time when I would reveal the family sword and promise to make you suffer if you ever hurt my daughter or did something inappropriate with her."

"We've all suffered far too much already," Naruto said. "Let's just leave it at that for now."

"Very well. I'll see you again this weekend." The amount of trust Hiashi put in Naruto was astounding. He did not say another word, nor take any action which could be perceived as a threat. He simply walked away, knowing Naruto was incapable of doing wrong when it came to Hinata.

Naruto hesitantly opened the door to Hinata's bedroom and was surprised. Unlike the rest of the compound, there were some luxuries inside. He had not expected her to have an actual bed or a vanity. Was there some part of Hiashi that remained unbroken, some part of his heart that never hardened?

"Naruto-kun?" The soft question from Hinata made Naruto's heart stop, and his composure almost completely shattered right then. There she was, waiting for him, just like her father said.

Hinata took her time gazing into Naruto's eyes. She'd always been able to see the pain he tried concealing from the rest of the world, and had always wanted to do something to ease that pain and take it away. But her clan and family had left her broken after years of constant mental abuse. Fearing rejection, all Hinata could do was watch, and draw inspiration from his determination, in the hope that one day she could find the courage to talk to him, to earn his acknowledgment, and one day, have the strength to prove herself to her family.

But the pain in Naruto-kun's eyes was far stronger than she'd ever seen. Stronger than it should have been. Naruto-kun looked like he'd been through hell and back, repeatedly. What could have caused him that much suffering?

And now that he was here, could she free her hero from this pain?

"Hai...it's me, Hinata," Naruto said, his voice anguished and wavering. "Can I sit down next to you?"

"H-Hai, you m-may." Hinata was surprised at how quickly that came out, despite the stutter. It looked like her shyness would dial itself down a few notches for now.

And that was a good thing. In the next ten seconds, Naruto shocked Hinata twice. First, he chose to sit down right next to her, far too close for comfort. And second, he pulled her into a tight hug...and then completely broke down.

For a few seconds, Hinata's blush flared up, turning her whole head bright red. She was about to faint before she felt teardrops fall down her neck. She gasped, her blush receding. Naruto was trembling, almost like he thought he'd lost her. Hinata had no idea how close to the truth she was with that thought.

"Shh," Hinata cooed, rubbing Naruto's back. "It's going to be okay now, Naruto-kun."

"I r-r-really h-h-hope so, Hinata," Naruto cried, gripping her more tightly.

"What...what happened?"

"A really bad n-n-nightmare...that felt like it lasted for years...Hinata, please don't leave me..." Hinata gasped again. Naruto's words were desperate, saturated with the fear of loss - specifically, of losing her. Did Naruto, perhaps, harbor hidden feelings for her all along?

"I'm here, Naruto-kun. I'm not going anywhere." By now, she couldn't help but start crying too.

"P-P-Promise?"

"H-Hai, I promise." No more words were needed between them. Hinata locked her arms around Naruto and rocked herself backward, falling onto her bed, crying almost as much as Naruto now. Eventually, they managed to cry themselves to sleep, but neither one of them could ever let go of the other.

In those moments, both of them knew with finality that they would always need each other, even if it would take them time to move past all fears and fully embrace this truth.

* * *

><p>Somewhere else in the compound, Hiashi turned off his Byakugan and smiled, his eyes moist with unshed tears.<p>

Everything was going according to plan...for now.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ...I had trouble with trying not to shed any tears myself while writing that moment for our favorite couple in Naruto. Which is unusual since I'm an emotionless bastard and don't cry easily.**

**Translations for all techniques mentioned/used in Chapters 1-3, plus descriptions of non-canon techniques:**

Bunshin no Jutsu: Clone Technique

Chakura Kusari no Jutsu: Chakra Corruption Technique. An S-rank kinjutsu created by Orochimaru and taught to Uchiha Sasuke, this technique literally causes chakra to "rot", interfering with and canceling any technique the victim attempts to use. It can also affect chakra when it's still inside the opponent's body, making them unable to mold chakra by "rotting" their chakra reserves; this will almost always be fatal to the victim if used this way. The technique normally requires making close contact with the target chakra, whether it is in a technique or inside the opponent's body, with one's hand. However, Sasuke was able to use the roots of the Shinju as a medium to corrupt the chakra of hundreds of victims simultaneously.

Chidori: One Thousand Birds

Edo Tensei: Impure World Reincarnation

Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu: Outer Path: Saṃsāra of Heavenly Life Technique

Jikūkan Fūinjutsu: Hiraishin no Jutsu: Space-Time Sealing Art: Flying Thunder God Technique

[Tajū] Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: [Multiple] Shadow Clone Technique

Kioku Fukusei no Jutsu: Memory Replica Technique. An extension of the Memory Recall Technique that's used in conjunction with the standard Yamanaka clan arts. This technique takes the Yamanaka mind reading and memory manipulation power to the extreme. When inside or reading a target's mind, Ino has the ability to copy almost all of the target's memories from their entire life and store them within her own mind.

Kioku Sōki no Jutsu: Memory Recall Technique. Yamanaka Ino's most potent ninjutsu, a high A-rank, potentially S-rank technique of her creation that grants her amazing memory capacity and allows her to freely manipulate memories for a multitude of purposes. Ino is able to memorize an opponent's heartbeat, movement patterns and techniques, similar to the Sharingan. She can also create holograms of herself and psychically interfere with and cancel an opponent's technique by "forgetting" the hand seals that were used to cast it.

Kioku Tensō no Jutsu: Memory Transfer Technique. An extension of the Memory Recall Technique that is used in conjunction with the standard Yamanaka clan arts. Ino can transfer any memory she has copied to anyone she chooses.

Kōdo Henge: Advanced Transformation. Naruto's version of the basic Henge; his transformations take on actual form due to chakra overload. It usually appears in the form of the Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique) or one of its variants. (Actually a canon technique, but not given a unique name in canon.)

Kokugen Henkō no Jutsu: Time Alteration Technique. With the full power of the Rikudō Sennin, it is possible to manipulate time itself. The technique can be used to travel either forward or backward in time. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Hagoromo chose to go forward, projecting his spirit across the timestream to manifest himself before Team Seven and the reincarnated former Hokages of Konoha, and is by far the simpler of the two choices. However, Naruto chose to go backward; doing so caused him to actually reverse the flow of time, becoming younger and sacrificing the Rinnegan and Rikudō Senjutsu while maintaining his memories of the future he undid.

Mugen Tsukuyomi: Infinite Moon Reader

Raikiri: Lightning Cutter

Rasengan: Spiraling Sphere

Rikudō no Yō no Chikara: Six Paths Yang Power

Shiki no Hakke Fūin: Eight Trigrams Seal Formula

Shindenshin no Jutsu: Mind Body Transmission Technique

Shintenshin no Jutsu: Mind Body Switch Technique

Shunshin no Jutsu: Body Flicker Technique

Tōton Jutsu: Transparent Escape Technique

**My apologies for the delay. I currently don't have a computer at my apartment and live five miles away from the nearest public library, so any writing I can get done depends largely on western Washington's weather and how much it interferes with my phone and my ability to walk to said library, as I also lack reliable transportation. It is very possible that delays between chapters over this coming winter and spring could last over a month for this reason. So try to bear with me. Also, certain scenes in this chapter kicked my ass and it's possible I may have to rewrite them later.**

**I am overwhelmed by the attention the introductory arc has received. Having the attention of well-known writers on FF such as brown phantom and Dread Knight N7 (formerly Dreaded Rasengan) is something I never once thought would happen.**

**To address some concerns of the other reviewers:**

**- For those who thought Naruto would be limited to shadow clones, Rasengan + variants, Henge, and Summoning, Chapter 2 stated he has Hiraishin, which he showed in this chapter along with Jiraiya's Tōton Jutsu. These will not be the only techniques Naruto has in **_**An Uzumaki Scorned**_** that he doesn't have in canon.**

**- As for his power, Sage and Bijū modes will return before Shippūden, not saying exactly when though. Six Paths Sage Mode is potentially (but not definitely) lost forever, and the Rinnegan is definitely lost.**

**And that's all I have to say about that.**

**Starting with this chapter, I'll provide translations of all the techniques used up to this point along with descriptions of the non-canon techniques used, at the end of each chapter. Starting with Chapter 5, I'll also be recommending other fanfics to my readers.**

**You'll also notice a couple of changes in the summary. The Adventure genre tag is currently false advertising, since the adventure part doesn't really begin until the Land of Waves arc, so it's been changed to the Drama genre tag. Also, while Ino still has a major role in this story, in this chapter Hiashi had a bigger role, so her character tag was replaced temporarily. There will be other times where Hiashi's importance overshadows Ino's, so you should probably expect that tag to change a couple more times.**

**An additional note: Many of the techniques that will appear in this fanfic that aren't in the anime, manga or video games were taken from the Naruto Fanon Wikia. Kokugen Henkō no Jutsu was created by The Gallant Toad Sage, and some of the non-canon techniques are of my own creation, but the Naruto Fanon Wikia is my primary source. Also, if some of my Japanese technique names are incorrect, I expect those who know what the names should be to notify me.**

**Sheesh, this is a long author's note, eating up 3-4 pages. I need to be more careful about keeping them cut down for future chapters.**


	4. Chapter 4: Gambles

_Chapter 4_

_Gambles_

_Outside the Yamanaka Flower Shop - With Naruto's clone and Sakura_

"Do _all_ of the clan-owned properties have sealing barriers that prohibit people outside of the clan from using Shunshin?" Cloneruto complained. He'd been abruptly stopped about one hundred meters away from his destination, and it wasn't due to chakra-related issues. He was surprised by the level of security that seemed to be present here, especially since he'd taken Kabuto's criticisms of Konoha security to heart. Hmm. Maybe his childhood pranks had had some effect on some of the major clans after all.

But it was still absurd for him to run into a barrier that far away from a _flower shop._

"I never cared enough to find out," Sakura said, walking through the alleyways with her otōto's Kage Bunshin. "But this...this is ridiculous. Inoichi-san must be _very_ paranoid."

"Who can blame him? We're _ninja_, nee-chan. We're all supposed to nurture a healthy growth of paranoia. But yes, this _is_ ridiculous. It's like…" The clone trailed off, unable to think of a reason why Inoichi would go to these lengths.

"Well, he was overprotective of Ino when we were still kids. Kept calling her 'his little princess' and other adorable stuff. I can only assume there was a legitimate threat to her even back then. Most likely from someone formerly in their clan." Huh. That had totally slipped his mind. There weren't many clans in Konoha that hadn't exiled someone at least once in their history. The problem was he often couldn't identify the exiles since those clans also tended to strike the exile from every record that would prove they once existed. Also, Naruto still had a moral aversion to the very idea of throwing someone out of a family, which might explain why he didn't think of it before.

"It's definitely within the realm of possibility. If so, it may also be an advantage to us if he's already gone to these lengths for her."

"Agreed." Both surrogate family members let it be paused there for a few moments as they continued walking at a leisurely pace, absorbing the details of their surroundings. Konoha was unusually quiet at night. Well, at least this part of Konoha was. Having a nearby major clan whose members possessed the ability to destroy one's mind with ease would be a major deterrent to crime. The two wondered if the Yamanaka had taken up any major part of the role the Uchiha once had in policing Konoha.

It pained Naruto to realize how limited his knowledge of the Yamanaka Clan was. The civil war between Konoha and the Fire Capital nearly wiped out the Yamanaka Clan. Worse, a lot of important scrolls related to clan policies had been destroyed in the war. With so many important records missing and with Ino being one of the only survivors, Naruto had not been able to gather an adequate amount of knowledge on Ino's clan during his Hokage training. He acknowledged it as a significant chink in his plan to reform the world. But he would adapt, depending on what his inner circle's investigations discovered.

"I never encountered this problem, though," Sakura spoke up. "My family was always welcome at the Yamanakas no matter what time it was, so my dad had no problems doing what you tried to do."

"Ya know, nee-chan, I never once heard you talk about your parents. You also rejected me when I wanted to visit them after we escaped from the Gentei Tsukuyomi."

"Naruto, I think it was for the best that you didn't. They wouldn't have approved of you no matter what. At least, my dad wouldn't have."

For some reason, that set off a red light in the clone's head. "Why wouldn't he? What was his occupation?"

Sakura's head sunk in guilt, realizing with that question she'd neglected to tell her otōto something that could screw up the entire plan, but still unaware of why she had this aversion towards discussing her family. "He's in the ANBU."

Cloneruto's face contorted in anger. That was a major fucking complication his creator's nee-chan just brought up. "And why did you never tell me this until now?" he demanded, roughly grabbing Sakura's wrist and bringing her to a stop.

"I didn't like my parents at all, dammit!" Sakura yelled way too loud. Again, she struggled to rein herself in and not hit the clone. "Neither one of them ever really talked with me about their lives! They were also very cold and strict, demanding the best from me and never praising me for my achievements, and they were distant a lot, and...and…"

"Yes, Sakura?" The clone's anger was only increasing, but he noticed something was _very_ wrong with his creator's nee-chan. It was simply not like her to abruptly stop.

Then, she gripped her head and screamed, more loudly than he'd ever heard her scream before. Her face scrunched up and contorted into a look that was painful just to watch happen.

"What the hell is happening to you, Sakura!?"

"Get...me...to Ino...now!" Sakura gasped, struggling against whatever it was that was inflicting this pain on her. She had by now collapsed onto the ground, blood leaking out from her nose.

Cloneruto was conflicted as he lifted her into his arms and started running double-time towards his destination. He couldn't take her to the hospital since that would raise unanswerable questions about why he and Sakura were awake and running through the village at that hour, and why Sakura looked like she was suffering a major stroke. Plus, she had specifically told him to get her to Ino.

The cogs in his mind were turning at high speed as he kept running, leading him to hop onboard a very dark train of thought. Was it that the reason Sakura never talked about her parents...was because she couldn't? Was her current condition the result of a juinjutsu activation to punish her attempt to do so? And if that was the case, were her parents allied with Danzō?

The clone let out a string of curses that would have made Hidan and Tayuya blush as he barged into the flower shop, triggering an alarm. Less than five seconds later, he was faced with Ino's father, Yamanaka Inoichi, who wore a stern look on his face as he moved to confront the intruder.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take you to ANBU Interrogation and Torture right now," Inoichi said. The clan head was in no mood to be toyed with.

Cloneruto, noting the look on Inoichi's face, knew he had no choice but to take a gamble. Inoichi was proficient enough in the mental arts that he would know what was going on with Sakura as well as how to fix it. But that meant Inoichi would also see all of Sakura's memories of the future. If Inoichi was in on Hiruzen's conspiracy, or was simply too loyal to his Hokage to be swayed by the knowledge of the Sandaime's betrayal of Naruto, it was game over for the time travelers. They would all have to attempt to flee Konoha and retake their home at a later date, if that was the case.

"My reason is right in my fucking arms!" Cloneruto yelled. "Sakura-chan is hurt really bad and she told me to get her to you right away!"

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?"

"I think her parents may have used a juinjutsu on her."

Inoichi's eyes widened. Naruto wouldn't know it yet, but Inoichi already knew everything that made this situation problematic. "Follow me. We have to act quickly to disable the seal and minimize the damage to our friend." The clone did as instructed, dropping down through a trapdoor with the unconscious Sakura still in his arms, but noticed that Inoichi had said _our_ friend, not _your_ friend. Did that mean…?

"Before you question that show I put on back there, Naruto-san, I already know about your plan."

_Oh, shit,_ the clone thought.

"The time travel jutsu you used sent you back fifteen years, correct?" Inoichi continued. The clone hesitantly nodded. "I was reading my daughter's mind and was about to stop when a flood of memories entered, memories which could not be explained any other way."

"Why the hell were you doing that to Ino? Shouldn't you ask for permission first?"

"Unfortunately, that is not how the Yamanaka clan works. If you want to keep a secret, your mental defenses have to be unbeatable and constantly active."

The clone's eyes widened. "And if she was asleep, her defenses would be completely down unless she's trained enough to maintain them at all times."

"Exactly. They reactivated a few seconds after the memories appeared, but a few seconds was all the time I needed to learn the important things from the memory of your war council prior to activating the time travel jutsu. And what I learned about Hokage-sama...disgusts me, for lack of a better word." Inoichi stopped halfway through the underground corridor to kick open a door, revealing a room that Naruto assumed was used for very secret mind operations.

Inoichi's words allowed the clone to relax a little. There was absolutely no doubt that the Yamanaka patriarch had just taken Naruto's side. "It's probably treason for this room to be down here, ya know," the clone commented while carefully laying Sakura down on the operating table in the center of the room.

"If that's so, then the crime was not mine," Inoichi replied. "It was furnished by someone we exiled from the clan, but if my suspicions are right, he joined up with ROOT either right after the banishment, or had been working for the Foundation before I banished him."

"Who?"

"His name is Fū, and he's distinguished by his orange hair. The only reason you even have this name is due to my personal observation of his training. He was a rarity among Yamanaka in that he had the ability to use Shintenshin to possess and control puppets, and could use them to bypass the potential risks of the standard Shintenshin. However, that ability was a product of his fascination with juinjutsu, and was the reason for his fall from grace in the clan."

Cloneruto's expression hardened. "You were far too lenient when you chose to exile rather than execute him."

"Unfortunately, it's impossible for a Yamanaka to get away with murder. At the time, my clansmen hoped ROOT would give him an acceptable purpose, but now I know otherwise." Both Inoichi and the Naruto clone shrugged. "Can you wait outside the room now?"

The clone shook his head. "Even if you don't need my fūinjutsu knowledge, you or Ino may need to use me as a chakra battery depending on how long it takes to fix Sakura-nee-chan's mind."

Inoichi blinked. "Just how much chakra do you have, Naruto-san?"

"More than most Jōnin in the village. And by the way, I'm a Kage Bunshin, and I was given about a fourth of the boss's maximum."

Were it not for the urgency of the situation, Inoichi would have gawked at Cloneruto's statement while he continued to set up the room for this mental procedure. "And why isn't the original here?" he wondered.

"At this hour? Are you kidding? He needs sleep, and I don't think Hinata's going to let him get out of bed anytime soon."

Inoichi chuckled, both at the recognition of the shy Hyūga's crush and the severe risk Naruto took by entering her bedroom. "Can you send another Kage Bunshin to wake up my daughter?"

"Already did," was the reply from said Kage Bunshin who was supporting a teary-eyed Ino as they walked into the room.

"Ino, you need to pull yourself together, at least for now," the first clone said. "I know how much it hurts to see your dad again after he died, but right now, Sakura-nee-chan needs your help."

_I died? _Inoichi managed not to ask; he'd only looked at the plan and hadn't the time to delve further into the despair that would have awaited him inside Ino's mind. _That would certainly explain a lot._

"It's just so hard, Naruto-sama," Ino said.

"I know."

"Naruto-_sama?"_ Inoichi asked, not realizing he'd spoken aloud.

"Less talking, more fixing up Forehead!" Ino yelled. Inoichi nodded at that as the first clone commanded the second to transfer all his chakra into the father-daughter duo. They were going to need it.

* * *

><p><em>Inside Sakura's mindscape - With Ino and Inoichi<em>

"And I thought Naruto's mind was the most fucked up out of all of us," Ino groaned as she focused on regaining her faculties.

"Watch your mouth, daughter," Inoichi warned her. She was right, though - Sakura's mind was fucked up. There were numerous shards of glass, representing recently shattered memories, levitating over a thick layer of pink haze covering the surface of the mindscape. Just what the hell happened to Sakura when she triggered the juinjutsu?

While Inoichi navigated through the desolate scenery, Ino was sorting through the shards, hands glowing with a green aura as she attempted to repair the shattered memories. The elder Yamanaka was in awe at the skill and determination his daughter was displaying. Had she surpassed him in the future? And if so, to what degree?

"It's so sad," Ino blurted out, unable to stop herself from starting a miniature rant. "Even with fifteen extra years of life experience, I still don't understand how someone can have this done to their own daughter…"

"The world is full of monsters disguised under human skin," Inoichi pointed out, needlessly. "Even we have problems pinpointing them before they can do the unthinkable."

"Mainly because we'd be seen as abusing our power if we tried, right?" Ino's father nodded. "I have no such reservations anymore, Dad. My only restraint is caution. Naruto-sama and I both know we have enemies in the village that remain hidden, and I'm not talking about the Foundation; we _know_ Danzō's subversive faction can never be anything but an enemy of our new world order. To us, they are not hidden at all. What I refer to when I mention hidden enemies are the enemies we can't yet identify. Until now, Kizashi and Mebuki were among that group. My main role in Naruto-sama's plan is to do what you won't do, Dad, and weed out these threats before they can act."

"I...see," Inoichi said. His daughter was absolutely correct in her accusations: he wouldn't go as far as she just said she would. It was a clear abuse of power, and the elder Yamanaka knew what happened to those who committed that offense. For Ino to outright state it was a necessary evil for the position she was in, would mean her future had degenerated into something he didn't want to imagine was possible. Already Inoichi dreaded the inevitable conversation in which his little princess would spill all the beans on his lap. About how he died, and about any and all future horrors which played their part in turning Ino into who she was now. And even then...would he ever be able to reconcile the differences between the Ino of yesterday and the Ino of tomorrow?

Abruptly, both members of the father-daughter duo were frozen in place by a wave of raw malice emanating from the core construct in Sakura's mindscape. Ino and Inoichi struggled to turn their heads to face the black obelisk that emerged next to them, but once they did, they recognized the seal patterns immediately. It was undoubtedly a creation of the banished Yamanaka.

**"Who dares trespass in my mind?"** Inner Sakura yelled as her form emerged from the cursed construct. **"Oh, it's you, Ino-pig,"** she spat out with great disgust after recognizing the young Yamanaka. **"Let me guess: you're here to stop me from taking Sasuke-kun for myself."**

"You've got some serious issues, bitch!" Ino shot back. "I can't believe you would go this far to hurt my best friend and ruin her life!"

**"How touching,"** Inner sarcastically commented. **"Poor little piggy is still caught up in her sad little delusions."**

"The only one I see here who's deluded is you!"

"Don't waste words on that abomination," Inoichi told Ino. "While you were busy getting into a catfight, I noticed a major flaw in the juinjutsu which created Inner Sakura that has resulted in the corruption of its primary directive. If you're going to do any talking..."

"...then do it with my fists," Ino finished. "Very good, Dad. I've been asking myself all morning just how long I'd have to wait to give someone a therapeutic ass-kicking." Inoichi's eyebrow twitched at his daughter's choice words. No, he definitely wasn't going to be able to reconcile the Ino of his kinder yesterdays with the Ino of the desolate tomorrows, at least not for a very long time.

**"Big mistake!"** Inner Sakura yelled. **"Little pigs need to learn how not to walk right into the slaughterhouse!"** In the span of a few seconds, the construct grew to ten times her original size and started her attack.

_So much for using my fists,_ Ino thought. _Ah well, same principle still applies._ "Suiton: Suitun!" she cried out, forming a ball of water in her outstretched palms and launching it at Inner. Mindscapes were truly a wonderful thing in that some of the physical rules of the outside world didn't apply. Conjuring up the necessary water supply was as simple as thinking it, even if it wasn't her own mindscape she was fighting in. It made contact with Inner's enlarged fist just in time to block the Okashō that would have done serious damage to her mind if it had connected.

"Ino, be careful!" Inoichi called out.

"I'll be fine, Dad. Just focus on dismantling that juinjutsu." Ino's voice was shaky, however; she may have had more experience than her father, but she hadn't expected Inner Sakura to replicate Sakura's entire moveset so rapidly. _It's a really good thing Naruto's clone gave us so much chakra before we performed the Shintenshin and is still around to monitor us and make sure things don't get REALLY bad in here. I still need to end this as quickly as possible, but I can't use __Shinbōkōshin no Jutsu__ against Inner Sakura without causing physical damage to Sakura's brain. Gah! What the hell am I supposed to do to take that Inner bitch down?_

**"Either get out of my head or die!"** Inner screeched, unleashing a second Okashō right after Ino barely blocked the first one. This time, Ino was able to dodge, but the entire mindscape shook upon impact, causing her to wobble and nearly fall face-first; a fatal mistake if she'd let that happen. Instinctively, Ino felt that Inner Sakura was causing more damage to Sakura's mind than Ino herself would if she used her kinjutsu. The problem Ino faced was, everything Inner Sakura did could be reversed; whereas if Ino used her kinjutsu for a quick finish, the damage would be permanent. She could not risk that.

_C'mon, Ino, THINK!_ "Kioku Sōki: Zanzō!" Ino cried out, this time using a hologram to dodge the third consecutive Okashō from Inner. Activating her ultimate technique gave her amazing clarity, boosting her ability to absorb and retain information and making it much easier to read her adversary's movements. And she was not impressed with Inner Sakura. Inner fought way too much like an untrained brawler...like the old Naruto and Sakura once fought in the original timeline. Ino smirked. The fight didn't become that much easier, but the difficulty did ease up enough to let her have a little fun with this overgrown manifestation of Billboard Brow's worst traits.

Of course, it didn't hurt that several the techniques she'd use to infuriate and immobilize Inner were once taught to her by a certain Boar-masked ANBU member during the Hi no Kuni civil war.

"Oi, Billboard Brow!" Ino taunted.

**"Ready to get slaughtered, little piglet?"** Inner yelled.

"The only one here who's going to the slaughterhouse is you and your overgrown forehead! Doton: Retsudo Tenshō!" Ino wasted no time in establishing dominance over the enemy construct. In the mindscape, techniques could be executed as fast as they came to mind, and with the memory recall technique active, it was _very_ fast. Going through the three needed hand seals faster than humanly possible in the real world, Ino slammed her palms onto the ground, causing it to start rupturing. A few seconds later, the shaken ground started to spiral in on itself. Due to her monstrous size as well as her inferior will, Inner Sakura found herself unable to avoid the attack. Ino couldn't bury her completely, but for the moment, her feet were trapped, rendering her immobile. It was sufficient for her to execute the rest of her plan.

"Dad, I'm going to need you to use a Katon technique soon!" Ino called out to Inoichi. "I won't be able to fully immobilize Inner without your help!"

"Don't you know any Katon?" Inoichi asked.

"No. Both me and Sakura are Earth and Water-natured. Any Katon above a D-rank isn't possible for either of us."

"Got it." Inoichi tensed up a bit. He himself wasn't particularly proficient with Fire manipulation, but he did know one technique that could be applied here. From the look in Ino's eyes, he devised that she had trained alongside some of the same ANBU members he frequently worked with and had picked up most of her Doton techniques from them. Having devised that, he had a good idea of what his daughter's plan was. It would have been far more effective if he'd had said ANBU alongside him in the mindscape to help immobilize the enemy construct, but what he had would still work.

**"You'd better let me out of here right now, pig!"** Inner Sakura roared, the venom in her voice permeating the entire surroundings.

"Maybe I'd consider it if you learned some fucking manners, Forehead! Doton: Nentsuchi Otoshi!" Ino conjured an opening above the menacing figure of Inner. Continuing to exert her will over Sakura's mindscape, Ino was able to eliminate the charge period of the jutsu. Inner found herself completely soaked in a thick layer of mud, further hindering her movement. However, she was already resisting Ino's assault. Inner was starting to force one of her feet free from the trap she was caught in. That gave Ino and Inoichi a window of only a few seconds to finish the trap. If Inner was allowed to finish escaping, the Yamanakas would be in major trouble.

"Now, Dad! That thing won't stay trapped much longer!"

"Right! Katon: Gōka Hitsukidan!" Inoichi called out, forming the Dog and Horse hand seals. Within moments, a large fireball was shot out from the elder Yamanaka's mouth. Normally, the chosen technique would have required significant preparation time due to the dozens of explosive tags contained within the fireball. However, Ino's sheer willpower allowed him to conjure the tags immediately.

The result of contact with the mud-soaked Inner Sakura was spectacular. As the construct was unable to get herself free from the earthen trap created by Ino in time, she was instantly engulfed in fiery shrapnel. The mud layer covering her body started cooking from the intense heat, which was amplified by a barrier seal Ino threw up upon impact to contain the explosion.

Inner was screeching like never before, forcing Ino to cover her ears as the sound pressure brought her to her knees. During their childhood in the original timeline, Ino had once overheard a couple of bullies from the academy claim Sakura was a banshee when she yelled at them. At the time, Ino thought they were just exaggerating. However, Inner was living up to their accusation right now. Ino could only imagine the pain the construct was feeling as it was literally cooked alive.

The process took about three minutes to complete. When it finished, Inner Sakura had been almost completely transformed into a giant ceramic figurine.

From his position, Inoichi noted that the assault he unleashed on Inner had transferred to the juinjutsu which created her. It was now badly damaged. Removing it outright should have been easy now.

That is, if it was actually possible to remove this particular seal without causing Sakura sufficient mental trauma to break it completely. With Sakura's current state of mind, that was actually impossible. The fragmentation of her memories brought on by the juinjutsu's activation obviously had not been damaging enough, and judging by the damage - which Ino had gone back to repairing - it would likely be a long time before another traumatic event with that potential could take place.

But even if it could be removed...would it actually be desirable to do so? And could it be done without consequence? Inoichi wondered how the Haruno parents and their co-conspirators in ROOT would react if they checked up on Sakura's mind and discovered that the cursed seal they placed on her was gone. It would certainly not be good news for Sakura if they discovered the seal was gone and she had free access to the memory that had been sealed in the first place. Plus, Inner Sakura was originally supposed to be useful.

No, Inoichi couldn't remove the seal without consequence. But he could repair it, make it serve its intended function...but still make it work against the traitors who applied it to Sakura. But even if he did, it was still a cursed seal. There was no surefire way to know it wouldn't backfire on him.

"Ino," Inoichi said, "how skilled are you in fūinjutsu?"

"I have some knowledge on the matter, Dad," Ino replied, surprising herself with how humble she sounded. "I'm not a sealmaster by any means, but Naruto-sama taught me everything he could on the subject."

"I hope you learned enough, my little princess. We're going to have to completely rewrite the current seal on Sakura-san. I've completed my analysis of the juinjutsu that was placed on her. It's a memory seal, and it was placed on her when she was seven. Sakura-san must have overheard or discovered something at that age that her parents couldn't afford to have get out. However, they couldn't have the memory erased because doing so at that age would have damaged her mind and greatly hindered her mental development, so they resorted to using a seal."

"I see." Ino was equal parts curious and furious. She wanted - no, needed - to find out just what her best friend had learned that could drive her parents towards taking this extreme measure. But she also could not get away from the anger that consumed her, knowing this extreme measure had been taken against Sakura.

"The 'Inner Sakura' construct was created by the seal. It was supposed to be strictly a defensive measure to help protect her from interrogation. Inner Sakura's mere presence would combat mental intrusion from enemies who captured her, and would help her resist torture by taking over when the stress on her mind became too great to handle.

"However, Kizashi and Mebuki must have wanted Sakura-san to take after them, so they requested the addition of a behavioral modifier to the seal that would encourage her to become a fanatic, so they could mold her into accepting their entire belief structure."

"That would be what caused her fangirl streak in the Academy," Ino observed.

"And that modifier also corrupted the construct's primary directive," Inoichi added. "The seal fed off her crush on Sasuke-san and transformed it into an obsession. Because of it, her talents as a kunoichi became almost nonexistent. Instead of training Sakura-san, her parents just gave up on her altogether. No longer able to shape her at will, they simply settled on her being out of the way."

"Damn them." Ino was seething with malicious thoughts directed at Kizashi and Mebuki. "Damn them straight to hell!"

"They'll meet that end in due time, daughter. Don't go seeking out a fight right now. You won't win." Ino reluctantly nodded at her father's order. "Now rein in your emotions and help me get to work. We have to make sure all of the memories Sakura-san has of your future are sealed away."

"Sure, Dad, but can I ask one thing?"

"What is it?"

"Can we replace the current behavioral modifier on the seal with a new one before we re-apply it to seal away all of Sakura-chan's memories of the future? I know we have to seal her memories away for the sake of the plan, but she wouldn't forgive us if we also sealed away the emotions she developed in the future. And I really don't want to lose her for that long, Dad. Whatever has happened between me and Sakura-chan, she's still my best friend."

"I don't know, Ino. Are you skilled enough to apply it correctly?"

Ino hesitated for a few seconds, going over her memories of interrogating prisoners from the Lightning Capital captured when Kumo rose up against their country's Daimyō. In three instances, she had been required to place a seal on the prisoners after retrieving their memories to seal those memories away. Each time she did, she'd been forced to design the seal to alter the prisoner's thought processes, restricting their ability to feel specific emotions. Ino hadn't liked it one bit, but recognized that it had been necessary. It also would not have been possible if Naruto had not been right there with her at Hōzukijō, teaching her the intricacies of fūinjutsu.

Ino had only been deployed to assist Kumo that one time, but in the eight weeks she'd spent assisting Godaime Raikage Darui and his inner circle, she had taken full advantage of the opportunity to learn everything she could from them. Granted, the bulk of that time was spent with Naruto, advancing her knowledge in fūinjutsu, but she'd managed to jumpstart her water manipulation training and learned a great deal on the subject with Darui personally supervising her training. During that time, Ino began to notice that she was absorbing and retaining information at an incredible rate. Later, she realized that she was beginning to develop a completely new technique. Ino's constant use of the Yamanaka clan arts made her realize it was possible to use her chakra to rewire her own brain, leading to the eventual creation of her ultimate mental ninjutsu, the Kioku Sōki no Jutsu, magnifying her memory retention ability many times over. Ino's progression in fūinjutsu was greatly accelerated from that point on. No, she was not a sealmaster, but then again, it was very rare for someone not of Uzumaki descent to have _that_ much proficiency in fūinjutsu. She had probably gotten close to Jiraiya's level, though. If any Yamanaka was capable of pulling this off, it was her.

"Yes, I should be."

"Then let's hurry and get started."

* * *

><p><em>Back in the real world - Two hours later<em>

Cloneruto was pacing around the room. None of the others had shown any signs of waking up yet, causing him to grow frantic. Each time one of the Yamanakas twitched, it almost made him explode in panic. His creator had seen a Yamanaka die from the mental defenses of a person he'd used Shintenshin on, and the memory of that incident still gave Naruto an occasional nightmare. If the same thing happened to Ino or Inoichi, it would be a major blow to his psyche and to the plan.

Each time they relaxed after twitching, the clone could not stop himself from letting out a sigh. He was a nervous wreck. Half of his thoughts were temptations to force his comrades out of Sakura-nee-chan's mind before they got their minds destroyed. That he didn't succumb to those thoughts showed he had invested an immense amount of trust in them.

But with such a strong bond came an equally strong fear that the bond would be broken.

The relief the clone felt when the Yamanakas' eyes opened, signifying the return of mind to body, was immeasurable.

"Ino-chan! Inoichi-san!" Cloneruto called out. "Is Sakura-nee-chan going to be okay?" Immediately, both of their faces took on a worried expression, and the clone's spirit sank. Had the operation gone wrong...?

"Naruto-san," Inoichi began, "the damage to Sakura-san's mind was severe. As you suspected, there was a juinjutsu placed on her that triggered during your late night walk, when you asked her about her parents. Ino-chan was able to repair the damage. However, we discovered a few things that are of grave concern.

"The construct we call 'Inner Sakura' was created by the juinjutsu that was used to seal away a memory from when she was seven. In this memory, Sakura overheard her parents discussing an S-rank mission given to Kizashi. Even though the memory was sealed, it has still deteriorated, so for the time being, we haven't been able to discern any further details. However, Ino copied the memory before we sealed it away again, and said she won't stop examining it until she can recall the missing details."

"I see." Whatever it was, the clone knew had to have been very threatening to the Haruno parents if it was exposed.

"Inner Sakura was created for three reasons. First, to provide Sakura-san with a means to resist torture and interrogation if she was captured by enemy ninja. Second, to stop Sakura-san or anyone else besides the seal's creator from attempting to unlock the seal and gain access to the memory. The reason the seal was applied in the first place was because any effort to erase the memory outright would have caused permanent damage to her mind at that age, preventing her from developing correctly as she grew older.

"However, it is the third reason for being that created the problem. Wanting to ensure that Sakura-san followed in their footsteps, her parents requested that a behavioral modifier be added to the seal. As you're aware, Naruto-san, it is possible to use certain seals to affect a person's mind, influencing their thoughts, restricting their ability to feel emotions, and so on. It was Kizashi and Mebuki's intent to use Inner Sakura to encourage Sakura-san to become a devout follower of their political belief structure."

"But Fū screwed up when he wrote that part of the cursed seal," Cloneruto observed.

"You have no idea, Naruto-sama," Ino said. "Sakura's feelings for Sasuke were, to a certain extent, unnatural. We know she used to genuinely love him, but most, if not all of her fanatic obsession with the Uchiha was either influenced or created by Inner. Screwed up doesn't even begin to describe how bad the seal was, in both concept and execution. If the modifier had been applied correctly, we would've had no choice but to kill Sakura, as she would be completely lost to us."

"That bad?" Cloneruto asked, his face looking crestfallen.

"That bad," Ino replied, confirming his fear. "We couldn't remove the seal. All we could do was correct its programming and replace the original modifier that turned Sakura into a fangirl, and seal her memories of our future away behind it once we finished. I'm sorry, Naruto, but your nee-chan isn't going to be with us for a while."

"I understand." Ino flinched at the tone of the clone's voice. It was only used whenever Naruto lost someone important to him. "Inoichi-san, could you...leave the room for a few minutes, please? I need to talk with your daughter alone. Once I'm done, I'll dispel, and you can go back to your business."

"Okay, Naruto-san," Inoichi said. "You have five minutes. I wish I could give you more time, but we have to move very quickly now." He then left the room, leaving his daughter and Naruto's clone to their private conversation.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto," Ino said, pulling the clone into her arms and holding him tightly.

"Don't apologize, Ino-chan. This isn't your fault."

"You're not the only one at fault here. I should have done something to find out how bad our Sakura problem was before we came back to the past."

"Let's not worry about that right now, okay? Let's just figure out what we're going to do until we can get rid of the seal." Ino nodded, but also sighed at Cloneruto. She didn't like Naruto's habit of drowning himself in his work to avoid dealing with his emotional problems.

"How will Sakura-nee-chan be affected now that her memories of the future are sealed behind the juinjutsu?" Cloneruto asked.

"It's too early to tell, Naruto-sama." Naruto frowned at that slip. He would have preferred -kun over -sama if an honorific had to be used, but learned a long time ago that "Naruto-kun" didn't sound right coming from Ino's mouth. "As I said earlier, Dad and I were forced to repair the old seal instead of replacing it with a new one. We think the seal is stable now, but it was still risky to add the new modifier at all. It would be in all of our best interests if we removed her from as much of her old life as possible."

"How? Won't that raise alarms?"

"Dad's going to have to report this to Hokage-sama either this evening or tomorrow morning. If he plays his cards right, he can get Sakura emancipated as soon as she registers as a ninja. Her parents will probably be glad to have her out of the house. But team assignments are still going to be a problem." She was referring to the tradition of putting the Rookie of the Year, Top Kunoichi, and Dead Last on the same team. "If she can still function as a kunoichi, there's no valid medical reason Dad can give that can alter the teams. But we can't let Sakura stay on Team Seven, Naruto. We can't take the risk that she'll regress back into her old self."

"I think I have a plan for that. When the boss sent me to fetch Sakura-nee-chan for help running an emergency errand, he sent another clone to disable the Sandaime's crystal ball, eliminating his ability to spy on me. That clone did a little extra snooping around while he was in the office and found copies of all our report cards. Turns out, Hinata's a lot closer to being the Top Kunoichi than we thought."

"Oh?"

"The problem is, even if Hinata gets a perfect score, Sakura would have to bomb the written portion of the test."

"Oh..." Ino let her thoughts trail off. No matter how Inoichi presented his case, Sakura getting a less-than-perfect score would undoubtedly raise suspicions. But if her performance didn't suffer today, she would end up on Team Seven, just like last time, and being around Sasuke might make her slip back into fangirl mode. The question was, could they afford to risk sacrificing Sakura just to stay under Sarutobi's radar? Or did they have to risk being found out before they were ready to purge the Sandaime's regime from Konoha?

"There has to be another way, Naruto. If we do this, a target could be put on Hinata's back too quickly for us to adapt to."

"I can't think of one right now," Cloneruto said. "I don't think we have enough time to come up with an alternative, either. If we go with this, would you be able to get away with interfering with her during the written portion?"

"Hmm…" Ino dropped silent for a few seconds, making the clone worry. Like with Sakura, he didn't always trust the Yamanaka whenever she actually had to take time to think, though in Ino's case, he supposed it was because he was used to her being able to provide an immediate answer when questioned. "Gah! How did that space my mind? I wouldn't have to do so during the exam, Naruto. I'll talk to Sakura about this as soon as she wakes up and see how much the repaired seal is affecting her. If I can get her to buy into your gamble, we can explain it as a side-effect of the juinjutsu activation when Dad is questioned about it. There may not be a medical reason to keep Sakura off of Team Seven if she remains Top Kunoichi, but there _is_ one for her to bomb the exam."

"A-ha!" Cloneruto was sporting his trademark idiot grin again. Ino briefly wondered what was wrong with him; she'd never seen that grin since the Fourth Shinobi War, and yet he'd now donned it twice since resolving to come back in time. Ino was no stranger to underestimating the intensity of Naruto's feelings, and wondered if she had done so yet again. Had the mere thought of being able to realize his second chance with Hinata already done more to heal him than Ino, as his confidante, ever could…?

"Gomen...I guess I overreacted a bit there, ne?" the clone asked, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Not at all, Naruto. It's a good thing that you can still do that without faking it. The less you actually have to act, the less suspicion you'll attract and the more time we'll have to execute your plan."

"Right." He was just about to make the seal to dispel himself before Ino grabbed his left wrist. "Ino, I really need to be going now."

"I know, but I'm not letting you dispel without sending my memories back to Naruto as well. Kioku Tensō no Jutsu," she said, pushing her chakra imprint into the clone's nervous system and causing him to faint from memory overload once the transfer was complete. Ino sighed at the reaction and punched the unconscious clone in the gut to force him to dispel.

* * *

><p><em>Hyūga Compound - Hinata's bedroom<em>

Naruto was jolted awake by the memory transfer from the clone he'd sent on that errand with Sakura. His blood ran cold with the memories - both the clone's and Ino's - sent to him by that clone. Two things had already gone wrong on their very first day back in the past.

First, Inoichi already knew everything, making him the second person outside of Naruto's inner circle to learn of their journey across time. It was apparently custom in the Yamanaka clan to frequently use their mental ninjutsu on one another to read each other's minds, and it was most often done when their mental shields were down, without the consent of the person whose mind was read. Ino had suddenly turned into an S-rank security breach. The _only_ good news about this revelation was that Inoichi had chosen to side with Naruto after reading his daughter's mind in her sleep. Whether that would hold true for the rest of the clan remained to be seen. Inoichi had promised to help Ino train so she could strengthen her mental shields even further and be able to maintain them indefinitely, so that, at least, was a plus. Still, Ino - and Inoichi as well - had to be _extremely_ careful now. Ino might also have to seal her own memories, removing herself from the plan altogether until the full allegiance of the Yamanaka was assured.

And second, Naruto's clone and the Yamanakas had inferred from the episode with Sakura that Kizashi and Mebuki were fanatics loyal to Danzō. Both of Sakura's parents had a long and accomplished history in the shinobi corps, but Kizashi was still serving in the ANBU and Inoichi had alleged that Kizashi was one of the best ninja in the ranks of the ANBU. And that he and Mebuki adamantly refused to train Sakura, and had written their daughter off as a lost cause when a side effect of the juinjutsu they applied to her caused their fanaticism to manifest itself in her obsession with Sasuke.

Needless to say, Naruto was _pissed._ Somewhere in his gut, he'd known that no matter what was done about Sakura, she would end up creating a problem. He couldn't help being angry at her, even if the incident wasn't her fault this time. He was angry beyond words at her parents for having this done to her. But he recognized he was most angry at himself for this incredible error in judgment that damned near cost him everything.

Like Ino, this incident made Sakura an S-rank security breach. Inoichi and Ino had been forced to repair the cursed seal and seal all of Sakura's memories of the future behind it, but had managed to replace the old behavioral modifier with one that would allow Sakura's future attitudes to override the corrupted directive of the Inner Sakura persona, allowing her to not regress back into a Sasuke fangirl. They'd also let Sakura keep her knowledge of Shōsen Jutsu by implanting a false memory to explain how she knew it, and they'd let her keep the few genjutsu she'd learned in the original timeline so Kurenai would be more able to ease into the idea of having her on Team Eight instead of Hinata, but everything else was locked away until such time as both Kizashi and Mebuki were eliminated, along with the rest of ROOT.

Naruto warmed up a little when he realized the implications of that last part. At first, he'd thought it would be necessary to keep the original teams unchanged because any effort to change them would result in raising major red flags to the Sandaime's regime. Now, there was a legitimate medical excuse for Sakura doing worse than perfect on the written portion. It would still raise a red flag, but it would be easy for Inoichi to use it to drive a wedge between Hiruzen and Danzō, which would make his mission in this timeline much easier. More importantly, it meant Hinata had an actual chance to be on his team! It would do wonders for a budding relationship with Hinata if they could get her assigned to Team Seven. And Naruto, being who he was, would have no problems with keeping an eye on Sasuke while also nurturing his bond with Hinata.

Naruto focused his gaze on the pajama-clad sleeping beauty who had him locked in an iron grip. Somehow they'd rolled over during his two hours of sleep - which Naruto thought was the best sleep he'd ever had - and ended up with Hinata using him as a pillow. Not that he minded. As long as she was comfortable, that was all that mattered.

Softly, hesitantly, Naruto stroked one of Hinata's cheeks. He was rewarded with a _hmmmm_ as Hinata unconsciously snuggled closer to him. Naruto was enamored by how cute she and her behavior was.

"Naruto-kun is such a soft little snuggly," Hinata said in her sleep. Naruto's eyes widened, his heart skipping a beat. He didn't know whether to be amused or mortified by the nickname his soulmate gave him.

Kurama wasn't helping matters any, either: _**"Snuggly? Snuggly!? Bwahahahahaha! Your mate is a real laugh riot, kōzō!"**_ the bijū roared, snickering the whole time.

_"You're just jealous you're not a snuggly like me," _Naruto retorted, sticking his tongue out before conjuring a giant muzzle over Kurama's snout. The Kyūbi's head crashed into the sewer floor from the ridiculous weight of the accursed thing. _"Now be a good little kit and shut up. I prefer to have peace and quiet in my snuggle sessions."_

_**I will get you back for this, snuggly gaki,**_ Kurama thought, knowing that Naruto had shut off their telepathic link.

Meanwhile, Naruto was busy thinking of how to gather his own blackmail material. And was failing miserably at that self-appointed task. But who could blame him, now that he could add _snuggly_ to his list of titles?

Wait a tic...yes, that was _exactly_ what he was going to do. Naruto smirked. He wasn't the only one who could get teased over being snuggly.

"How snuggly am I, Hinata?" Naruto whispered into her ear.

"Very snuggly," Hinata replied, still asleep.

"Well, I think you're _more_ snuggly than me."

"Silly Naruto-kun." Hinata giggled. Then she realized something. Her dream felt a little too real, and her pillow felt a little too firm, and...did it smell like ramen? And was her pillow talking? And why did it sound like...like...

Hinata's eyes snapped open.

And were it not for the silencing seals placed on her room, her scream would have woken up half of Konoha.

"N-N-N-Naruto-k-k-kun? W-W-What a-are y-you d-d-doing h-here?"

"Calm down, Hinata!" Naruto was panicking even more than she was. "You asked your father to bring me here, remember?"

Hinata, of course, did _not_ remember, at least not at first. She was too busy hyperventilating as most of the blood in her delicate body rushed to her head, turning it one of the brightest shades of red Naruto had ever seen. Overload was imminent.

"Breathe, Hinata. Just breathe," Naruto said in a softer tone. This time, she was able to listen and do as her crush asked. After about ten deep breaths, Hinata's panicking stopped and her blush receded, though not completely. "That's better. Now, do you remember what happened before we went to sleep together?"

"I...I had the strangest d-dream," Hinata said. "I...I dreamt t-that Father came in here and a-apologized to me f-for everything b-bad he d-did to m-me, and t-then..." She gulped. Naruto-kun was here, so... "It wasn't a dream, w-was it?"

"If it was, we're both dreaming," Naruto agreed. "I'm sorry for breaking down on you like that, Hinata. I'm also sorry for scaring you so bad."

"Don't apologize, Naruto-kun. It isn't a b-bad thing to cry sometimes. What's really bad is if you k-keep it all bottled up in-inside."

Naruto gently rested his right hand on Hinata's shoulder, earning a quiet gasp and a slight deepening of her blush. "Thank you for letting me come here, Hinata. You have no idea how much I needed to see you this morning."

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun." Hinata's gaze fell to her lap, where she was poking her index fingers together - a nervous habit Naruto remembered well. "Eto, Naruto-kun...could you tell me what your n-nightmare was about?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable with telling you right now."

"Oh..." Hinata felt dejected after hearing that. Naruto picked up on her mood shift right away and scrambled to placate her.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Hinata. It's just that it's something very personal and I...well. You know I've always lived alone, yes?" Hinata nodded. "I...don't really know how to open up to others that well. I mean, sure I have a few friends, but they're not all that close to me. I'm not used to having someone I can really talk to about whatever's troubling me, ya know?" It wasn't really a lie. Even Ino's mental therapy sessions in the future he'd escaped from had been very unproductive.

Hinata nodded again, but this time said, "You can always c-come to me whenever you need to, Naruto-kun."

"I know, Hinata. But that might not be as easy as it sounds."

"W-What do you m-mean?"

Naruto sighed and took a deep breath. This was the moment when everything would start to change for them. "Earlier this morning, before I came to visit you, I snuck into the Hokage's office and learned a lot of terrible secrets that were being kept from us. We've been used and lied to our entire lives, Hinata. Almost everyone in the village has."

"Is...is it about the...the..."

"Kyūbi?" Naruto questioned. Hinata hesitantly nodded. "How did you know I have Kyūbi sealed inside me?" he asked, inwardly panicking. Rather than answer, Hinata froze up, deathly afraid that Naruto would turn away from her, or worse, report her for breaking the Sandaime's Law.

Naruto may not have had the ability to sense emotions anymore, but it was painfully obvious from the way Hinata's body stiffened and her face paled that she was crippled by fear. He needed to fix that. "You're not in trouble, Hinata," he said in his softest voice. "I found out before coming here, so you can't get in trouble for talking to me about it, alright?"

"A-Are y-y-you s-sure?" Hinata stuttered, still reacting badly to Naruto's learning her knowledge of this earth-shaking secret.

"Absolutely sure, believe it." It didn't do much to make Hinata relax. Naruto sighed. What the hell had he been thinking, bringing up his furry friend like that? Sure, he needed Hinata to know the Sandaime had betrayed them, but discussing his condition of containing a sentient weapon of mass destruction in their first actual conversation from her point of view was _not_ the way to go about this! "Uh, you don't have to tell me right now, okay? I mean, it doesn't look like you're comfortable with this topic, so can we come back to it later? Just nod if you understand and agree." It took Hinata a few seconds for the words to sink in, but she nodded. Inwardly, she was both relieved and disappointed that Naruto-kun chose to put it off for a later time.

"Anyway, Kyūbi is actually the least of our problems right now. I'm still trying to sort everything out, but right now I believe that we can't trust the Sandaime at all. If he finds out we're seeing each other like this, he might take action against us, and that would be really bad."

Hinata was trembling from this revelation. Naruto's referring to the Sandaime by his title instead of the more affectionate "Old Man" he'd always called him only made his serious tone scare her more. "But w-w-why would H-Hokage-sama d-do that?"

"I don't know, Hinata, at least not yet." _I wish I could tell you everything, but you're not emotionally ready to share my burdens._ "But what I do know is that right now, there's only a few people in Konoha you can trust. Aside from me, your father, and Tokuma-san, I think you can trust Inoichi-san and Kakashi-sensei, and maybe Ino and Shino, but almost everyone else is potentially either a sworn enemy or an unwitting pawn of our enemies."

"I don't understand..."

"I know." Naruto drew Hinata in for a hug, making her gasp, but also making her trembling subside a little. "Once I've got myself all sorted out, I promise I'll tell you everything, okay, Hinata?"

"O-Okay," and with that, Hinata let herself snuggle into Naruto's embrace. Normally, she would have been far too shy to even consider doing such a bold thing, but it has been an extraordinary morning with some very disturbing things said to her, and right now she needed some comforting, which Naruto-kun was more than willing to provide.

"But this doesn't mean we can't see each other at all, Hinata. It just means we have to be very careful about meeting up, ya know?"

Hinata gasped at the possible implications of those words. Her blush returned in full force. "Y-You m-mean like a...a..."

"A secret romance?" Naruto suggested, realizing too late he was being careless with his words. Hinata gasped again, blushing even more, and Naruto could tell from the deepening of her blush that she was about to start hyperventilating again if he didn't soothe her. "Breathe, Hinata. You don't have my permission to faint yet."

"G-Gomen ne," Hinata said, taking more deep breaths.

"Don't apologize, Hinata. I know this is a lot for you to take in." She nodded. "But as for your question, no, at least not yet. It's way too risky for us to pursue a relationship right now. But that shouldn't stop us from training together in secret whenever we can, as long as we make sure no one other than the ones we trust know about it, ne? So, uh, would you like to do that, Hinata? Start training with me, that is?" Again, Hinata was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. She'd wanted Naruto-kun to ask her to be his girlfriend, but knew she couldn't handle the question if he'd asked. Besides, between his crush on Sakura-san (which she didn't know he didn't have anymore) and what he told her this morning, it simply wasn't possible. But she couldn't lose hope! Naruto-kun still wanted to see her and spend time with her, so she still had a chance!

_Don't faint, Hinata. Naruto-kun hasn't given you permission to faint, so DO NOT FAINT!_ "H-Hai!" Hinata said with enthusiasm. Without realizing it, she tightened her grip on Naruto.

"Whoa, Hinata, could you let go a little, please?" Naruto asked, his voice raspy. "I'm having trouble breathing here." On cue, Hinata shot out of his lap, blushing up a storm and muttering unintelligible apologies. "Hey, calm down! I'm not mad at you. You're just really strong, is all."

"No I'm not," Hinata muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?"

"I s-said I'm not s-strong," she insisted.

"Bullshit." Hinata turned away from him, not wanting to hear his harsh voice, so Naruto placed both his hands on her face and turned her back around to face him, making her gasp. "Hinata, look at me and listen. You _are_ strong, no matter what anyone tries to say or do to convince you otherwise. I know your father sees it, and I know I see it, and I know your cousin and little sister will see it soon, so why does it matter if no one else wants to see it?"

"B-But..."

"No buts, Hinata. I can't accept that you don't see the strength I see each time I look into your eyes. Look deep inside yourself and see what I see, and for God's sake, stop putting yourself down. You're strong, Hinata, and I'll say it as many times as you need to hear it. And we've already agreed that I'll come over and train with you whenever I can, so we'll both get even stronger. And one day, after we've trained ourselves into the ground, we'll both become so strong that we won't have to hide from anyone. Does that sound good to you?"

Naruto grew worried when Hinata didn't answer. He tried prodding her, but she still didn't respond. After twenty seconds, he heard her start crying. "Hinata? What's wrong?"

"T-This...this can't be r-r-real," Hinata sobbed. Naruto was taken aback; he had made a mistake he didn't think himself capable of making. He had underestimated her emotional fragility.

"Huh? Why not?"

"If you were r-really N-Naruto-kun, you w-wouldn't be h-h-here. You'd s-still be ch-chasing S-Sakura-san, and you w-w-wouldn't even..."

Hinata was cut off when Naruto pulled her back into his lap and kissed her softly on her forehead while using his thumbs to gently wipe her tears away. Luckily, the idea of fainting didn't even cross her mind. Were it real, she'd have fainted many times over by now, but then again, if it was a dream, why would she be crying? Naruto-kun seemed to know she was asking herself this, and wrapped his arms around her, beckoning her to relax and accept it. Maybe, just maybe, this dream was real after all...

"Hinata," Naruto said, "I'm done chasing Sakura. You're the only girl whose existence I want to acknowledge like that. I'll stay with you, _and only you,_ for as long as you'll have me. That's my promise of a lifetime to you." With that, he had gone fully past the point of no return, and went somewhat against what he'd said about it being too dangerous for a relationship between them. He knew Hinata could easily interpret what he just promised as a marriage proposal, which was ironic considering the words Hiashi said to him prior to his entering the compound, and choose to reject him. And if she did, he didn't know what he would do with himself. But there wasn't a single ounce of his being that wasn't screaming out for Hinata to stay with him. He _needed_ her, and he needed her to know how strong that need was.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata gasped. This was far too good to be real, and yet he'd used _those_ words, and she knew from watching him all the time that once he promised something, he would do everything in his power to keep that promise. He hadn't said he loves her, but his words and comforting actions told her he felt something strong towards her; strong enough that he really was going to give her a chance, and find out if he could love her. Hinata felt the slight traces of uncertainty and doubt Naruto-kun couldn't quite conceal from his voice...which she interpreted to mean he wasn't fully sure of what he felt. Hinata didn't know this wasn't true, that he was hopelessly in love with her, but it was easier for her to come to this conclusion, because she wasn't confident enough in her own feelings to know for sure that what she felt for Naruto-kun was love. But with her Naruto-kun here to help and guide her, she knew she would be confident enough, one day.

What once would have been the hardest thing to say suddenly became very easy for her. "Hai, Naruto-kun. I want nothing more than to have you with me," she finally said, without stuttering.

Naruto momentarily lost control of himself when he heard her answer. "Arigatō!" he yelled excitedly, jumping off the bed and doing a happy dance with Hinata still in his arms. Hinata was giggling without restraint.

"You're...hehe...w-welcome, Naruto-kun, but could you...hehe...p-please put me down now?" she asked, having trouble catching her breath between giggles. Naruto reluctantly complied; he didn't ever want to let go of her.

"Gomen," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Anyway, don't ever forget what I said. I might not be able to do everything I just said I would, at least not right away, but I will figure it out somehow, because I don't go back on my word."

"I know, and I won't," Hinata replied, still feeling a bit of the surge of confidence Naruto gave her.

"Good." Wistfully, Naruto stared at the open window and watched the sky as night gave way to the sunrise. "Uh...should I be leaving? It's almost dawn now, and I don't think anyone here besides you, Tokuma-san or your father would be too thrilled with me being here, ya know?"

"Normally I would ask you to s-stay for br-breakfast despite that, Naruto-kun, but with e-everything you s-said...yes, I think it would be b-best if you left now, b-before the rest of the clan wakes up. But if y-you'd like, I could b-bring you something at the Academy?"

"That would be great, Hinata! I'll see you there soon!" Naruto finally moved towards the window to take his leave, but he still had one more thing he needed to say. "Oh, Hinata?"

"Hai, Naruto-kun?"

"Don't hold back on the exams today. I know how hard you've worked at the academy, but I also know you can do even better. I think it would help us out a lot if we ended up on the same team when we graduate from the Academy, ya know? It would make it a lot easier for us to train together if we didn't have to do it all in secret. And I _really_ want to be on the same team as you, Hinata. _Believe it."_ Naruto could say nothing more, as he'd stayed far too long. He turned himself invisible with the Tōton Jutsu and jumped out Hinata's window.

Hinata was thoroughly in shock. Even with the bad things Naruto-kun warned her about, today was officially the best day of her life. Naruto-kun had got her father to turn over a new leaf and mend the rift in their family. Then, he'd defied all authority in Konoha by coming to her in the dusk (albeit at her father's request), seeking her out for comfort, and to comfort her. And if that wasn't enough, he'd offered to help her train, and wanted her to be on his team when they graduated from the academy! He'd even promised to give up on Sakura and be with her instead! To top it all off, he'd _kissed_ her! It was too much to take in. Hinata knew she should have been more suspicious of Naruto-kun, but she was simply too happy right now to care. All that mattered to Hinata at this moment in time was that her Naruto-kun had finally seen her and was going to help her fight to make all of her dreams come true.

_Naruto-kun...I won't let you down _was Hinata's last coherent thought as the bliss of the moment finally overwhelmed her, causing her to faint onto her bed.

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><p><strong>Technique List for Chapter 4:<strong>

Doton: Nentsuchi Otoshi: Earth Release: Sticky Earth Drop

Doton: Retsudo Tenshō: Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm

Gentei Tsukuyomi: Limited Moon Reader

Katon: Gōka Hitsukidan: Fire Release: Great Fire Incendiary Bullet. The user releases from their mouth a large bullet-shaped mass of fire that has a dense accumulation of explosive tags hidden within. These tags ignite from within the fire and cause an intense explosion of flaming shrapnel resulting in widespread damage and can easily overwhelm a target who is caught within the blast range of this technique.

Kioku Sōki: Zanzō: Memory Recall: Afterimage. The extension of Ino's Memory Recall Technique that allows Ino to create holograms of herself to avoid getting struck by enemy attacks.

Okashō: Cherry Blossom Impact

Shinbōkōshin no Jutsu: Mind Body Assault Technique. Derived from the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, this uses Ino's chakra to assault the target's mind directly. Depending on the intensity of the attack, it can cause serious, potentially irreversible brain damage, or even kill the target by triggering an aneurysm.

Shōsen Jutsu: Mystical Palm Technique

Suiton: Suitun: Water Release: Water Shield

**A/N: I'm not particularly happy with that fight scene inside Sakura's mindscape, but it was my first…**

**I also must apologize for the delay in posting the chapter as well as the content. Three particular reviewers (one unfortunately being a guest) have pointed out stuff in their reviews and via PM that has forced me to push the graduation exams back a chapter. Yes, I really did just turn the first chapter of the original into five chapters in my rewrite. Next chapter will be the actual exams along with the Mizuki incident. Rest assured that things will be different.**

**My two excuses for taking longer than desirable with this chapter are a massive case of writer's block and losing my phone temporarily because my family's bank account was hacked last month.**

**Hopefully I've made the last scene in this chapter...ahem, **_**snuggly**_** enough to make up for this?**

**Okay, now for the reasons for this end-of-chapter A/N. From now on, I will try to keep all A/Ns posted at the end of the chapter, rather than the beginning. Warning: there may be spoilers for the manga included, so read at your own risk.**

**First, I feel the need to reply to two specific reviewers:**

**- Flickering Moon (Guest): If you continue to follow this story, I would ask that you make an account so I can respond to you via PM. I don't like acknowledging guest reviews, and doing so is potentially problematic anyway, as you can see from the absurd length of my reply.**

**Most of your criticisms seem to be of the time travel genre itself, rather than with this specific story. However, I will address your review as though your issue was with the story rather than the genre.**

**Yes, Naruto's biggest personal reason for going back in time IS to get his second chance with Hinata. Yes, he will be aware that initiating a romance too early will put the target on her back sooner than he might be able to adapt to; however, he had to go to her anyway so that she would at least be aware of the danger to her and Naruto from within Konoha's walls. It would be worse for Hinata if Naruto didn't tell her what he could afford to tell her, as soon as he could afford to. Sadly, this meant the potential romantic implications in the scene at the end of this chapter were unavoidable. You have to realize that pre-time skip Hinata is emotionally fragile and needs to be reassured that she can overcome her turmoil, and the only way Naruto knew how to reassure her was to make that promise to stay with her as long as she's willing to have him. I will reveal, however, that Hinata will start to grow suspicious of Naruto, at least until he decides the time is right to trust her completely.**

**About your Gary Stu comment...would you care to elaborate? How is it Gary Stu if Naruto knows his plans have flaws and that he'll have to adapt to compensate? If you'd read Chapter 2, you would have noted that Kurama pointed out the original plan WILL fall apart, and it has already started to do so here. No plan ever survives first contact with the enemy, and I hope the Sakura incident in this chapter has done an adequate job of demonstrating that, if only to a currently limited degree. Feel free to speculate about the potential implications of this to your satisfaction. Now, if you're talking about Naruto's speech patterns and maturity demonstrated in the first three chapters, keep in mind that the story begins post-canon, and even the epilogue of the Naruto manga shows that the titular character has gained wisdom in adulthood. Why is it so much of a stretch that he would have a higher degree of maturity here than he did in his portrayal in Shippūden, especially since he has suffered losses in **_**An Uzumaki Scorned**_** that he hasn't suffered in the manga canon? The **_**real**_** stretch would be if he was still genuinely the idiot he is portrayed as in most of the canon. But if his speech patterns still sound off, would you care to point out where and how he feels OOC for a more jaded version of himself?**

**Back to the romance issue...aside from the very real Sarutobi problem presented in my story's plot, what is your personal beef with a potential pre-time skip romance between Naruto and Hinata? Keep in mind the very important cultural differences between the Naruto world and the modern Western world. Naruto's setting is based off the Sengoku (Warring States) period of Japan; due to the shorter average lifespan of those times, one would be expected to find a wife and have children sooner than we, in this day and age, consider morally acceptable. Due to the various technologies included in Naruto, however, I consider the real time setting to be post-apocalyptic, but it is still primarily an Eastern-based culture. Plus, children are being trained to kill the enemies of their village from a young age. This would cause the children to mature more rapidly than they normally would in Western society. This would also mean that a preteen romance, while it may be to your personal distaste, would not be morally unacceptable in the Naruto world. Again, Naruto is aware of what would happen if he gets caught, but if protecting Hinata from his enemies means becoming more than just her friend as he trains with her to help both her and himself get stronger, he wouldn't try to avoid that level of development. Naruto believes that attempting to keep her at a distance until he knows he's strong enough to protect her without fail carries the risk of making him lose her again, but in a way that's more painful than having watched her die the first time around.**

**Your words about defining it as a preteen romance don't truly apply to Naruto in the time travel genre. Naruto IS NOT thinking like a preteen when it comes to Hinata. He's looking at Hinata through the lens of a man who loved Hinata in his and her totality. So you'll have to understand how this opportunity for a second chance can be overwhelming for him. And if he was absolutely confident in his ability to protect her, he'd probably declare his love from the top of the Hokage Monument. **

**But there are other major reasons besides saving Hinata and taking revenge against Sarutobi - a revenge Naruto knows full well he might not be able to fully achieve, at least not in the sense of "actually killing the Sandaime himself" - that motivate his decision to travel back in time. Yes, Naruto could have reformed the shinobi world in his future, BUT, as the story progresses, if you continue reading, you'll continue to see mentions of this post-canon timeline that make staying in said timeline less and less desirable, and I don't just mean the fact that I did not disband ROOT after Danzō's death in this AU. The Fourth Shinobi War really messed up Naruto's entire world and nearly destroyed it, something Kishimoto has no plans whatsoever to explore now that the manga is over. Kaguya has a confirmed planet-buster ability, so would it be unreasonable to expect that the Shin: Jukai Kōtan that Madara used to ensnare the entire world in the Infinite Tsukuyomi is potentially a continent-buster?**

**Also, I've already stated in Chapter 1 and reiterated in Chapter 3 that the Fire Daimyō attempted to economically cripple Konoha in this story's future timeline, forcing Kakashi to declare war on the Fire Capital. And of course the economic sanctions against Suna by their Wind Daimyō happened in canon. The problems created by the Daimyō and their power over the nations they govern are one major example of what Naruto wants to rectify. And this Naruto, as Kurama mentioned in Chapter 2, is wise enough to recognize that no matter how powerful he becomes, he cannot achieve his ambitions alone. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken anyone else back with him.**

**As far as the control exercises go...ask yourself this. Of the three options Naruto has - a. successfully performing the Bunshin no Jutsu to graduate properly; b. failing to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu and being forced to let Mizuki tell him to steal the Scroll of Seals again, knowing full well that what he's doing is a capital offense; or c. performing the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu without a believable cover story for how he knows it - which two of those three do you think would set off the bigger alarms? In canon, the only reason Naruto got away with stealing the scroll is because he genuinely did not know that what he did was wrong, which led to him being forgiven. The same CANNOT be said in the redo here, and Sarutobi would be well within his power as Hokage to have Naruto sentenced to death if Naruto stole the scroll again.**

**I can't answer your other questions unless you make an account and PM me, because they would potentially spoil too much of the plot for the rest of my readers.**

**But I do appreciate your constructive criticism. If you find you can't read this fic any longer, I completely understand and I wish you good luck in the rest of your endeavors.**

**- Circle of Phoenix: Your whining does not deserve to be acknowledged. You do not deserve the insignificant amount of time I'm consuming by typing this up, but oh well. You have no case against me. This fic has not violated the Terms of Service in any way. The only ToS violation that has occurred here is you flaming me, which, by the way, I have reported, and I WILL report you again each time you flame me if you continue to flame me just because you don't like that I rightfully criticized one of your fics. And guess what? Due to your persistent whining, your "respect" means nothing to me. And might I also point out that by disrespecting me for writing this story, you also disrespect everyone else who has ever used the plot point of "the main hero/heroine is betrayed and goes back in time to correct the mistake", INCLUDING The Gallant Toad Sage, whose work inspired this fic. So I strongly suggest you back off.**

**Second, I have a poll for readers to make the aftermath of the exams more interesting. At first, I was going to have the teams stay the same as canon for one main reason: to try and keep the target off Hinata's back as long as possible. However, I believe that Hinata would have been a far better fit for Team 7 than Sakura, and the authors I've spoken to agree. Plus, when the target **_**does**_** get put on her back, Naruto would be in a better position to protect her if he's her teammate.**

**The question for the rest of you is, would you rather have Teams 7 and 8 remain unchanged, or do you want Hinata to overtake Sakura as Top Kunoichi and get onto Team 7 with Naruto? Whichever one wins out, will affect the immediate plot, up to and including the Land of Waves and Hidden Waterfall arcs. Also be aware that if the majority votes to have Hinata overtake Sakura, it WILL raise red flags to Konoha's administration.**

**Third, I'm currently working on a timeline for the events of the futureverse in **_**An Uzumaki Scorned**_**,****but am waiting to post it to my profile until we know what happens in Naruto 7: The Last. For the record, my feels are NOT ready for this movie.**

**And last, the epilogue of Naruto has brought up a possible side pairing issue for this fic. Well, I know I'm very late saying this, but the main pairing of this story, NaruHina, IS CANON. (And it feels **_**so**_** good to say that.) So are ShikaTema and Sai x Ino. Chōji x Karui and Kiba x Tamaki came out of left field, but there's no reason I can see at this time not to imply them even if I might not be able to develop them. However, regardless of whether or not I kill Sasuke, SasuSaku will NOT be one of the pairings in **_**An Uzumaki Scorned. **_**If Sasuke lives, he won't be paired with Karin or Haku either.**

**Anyway, enjoy, and step up those reviews, everyone. Reviews are what stop my muse from falling back into a coma. Also, *does a happy dance because my beta reader Solvdrage added this story to hinatasgreatestfan's C2, NaruHina Puritans***


	5. Chapter 5 Preview

**Sorry, everyone, not a full chapter yet. I'm still working on it, and the thing's an absolute monster. It's looking like it could possibly exceed 20,000 words. I've also had to ask my beta reader Solvdrage for help writing parts of the currently unfinished scenes due to how much some of them have plagued me.**

**Once the chapter is finished, I intend to take down this preview scene and replace it with the full chapter. For now, this is so my readers know I'm not dead or about to abandon things prematurely.**

**Now...there's a couple of reviewers I'm missing their input on from the previous chapter. I'm sure my review reply to the guest Flickering Moon may have driven them away, but, well, I have a confession to make. The release of The Last and the plot summaries posted everywhere on Tumblr and elsewhere have both affected my ability to pay attention to this fic and have caused the still incomplete chapter, incorporating the new addition to canon, to take an unplanned direction which has partially invalidated said review reply.**

**Until the entire chapter is finished, all of you will necessarily be kept in the dark about most of it. But I'll mention this one detail about the AUS Futureverse timeline that's spawned by accounting for The Last: Kumo blows up the moon. You can imagine how this one detail would force me to alter Naruto's priorities.**

**Anyway, enjoy the one finished scene if that is what you wish. Oh, and please don't review this post. If you have to review, then use PM or do it as a guest so you won't waste your review for the actual chapter.**

* * *

><p><em>Naruto's apartment<em>

In the original timeline, Uzumaki Naruto had panicked a lot, often over the most trivial things. War and death had shown him just how trivial they were, and forced him to mature a lot more than he'd liked. After his return from Kumo, he'd maintained a level head - perhaps too level - in nearly all situations. Comparatively speaking, there were only a few topics or issues that _could_ make him legitimately panic anymore.

Three of them had occurred this very morning.

The first was the Inner Sakura incident and learning that Inoichi had viewed Ino's memories. His sister and best friend had both turned into walking time bombs, potentially with a very short fuse.

The second was unrelated except by circumstance to the juinjutsu that created Inner Sakura. Repairing her mind and attempting to repair the seal, but make it work for them instead of the enemy, had taken priority and expended his clone's life span. The clone he'd sent on the errand had been forced to drop that errand altogether, and now there was no time to send another clone out to procure the needed supplies for a trip to Suna. By the time he could revisit the errand, there would be no way he could get a Kage Bunshin to Suna before Suna learned he was no longer a civilian, even with Hiraishin.

If need be, Naruto could wait until Gaara and his siblings were sent to Konoha for the Chūnin Exams, but he'd really rather address the problem as soon as possible, and maybe see about getting Suna to _not_ align itself with Orochimaru this time around, if he could expose the Wind Daimyō's schemes to Gaara. But now he had to wait and hope a mission to Suna would come along. And he'd have to rely on Team Ten to get that mission.

And the third issue was none other than Hinata.

What the _hell_ had Hiashi been thinking, insisting that he walk into her bedroom in the middle of the night and taking advantage of the fact he was no longer physically able to defeat most Hyūga once they got into taijutsu range? Sure, with a little boost from Kurama he could still negate most Jūken attacks, but the upper-level Hyūga, particularly Hiashi and Tokuma, were fast enough to blitz him before he could access his tenant's chakra, rendering his advantages as a jinchūriki largely meaningless. Until he could unlock the seal again, he would have to focus on speed training and improving his sensing ability. And until the elders were dealt with and the loyalty of the entire Hyūga Clan secured, every Hyūga he didn't trust absolutely - which was pretty much every Hyūga except Hiashi and Tokuma - was a potential enemy or a pawn of the enemy. Including Hinata, if the enemy learned of his feelings before he regained enough power to protect her. And it _hurt,_ knowing he couldn't trust his one true love as much as he wanted to, and knowing that his inability to trust her early on would cause her to distrust him as well.

Begrudgingly, Naruto admitted he had needed to get the first encounter out of the way as soon as possible, but why did Hiashi have to lure him right into the lion's den to do it?

Hinata herself was an emotional train wreck, not as bad as Naruto but still pretty bad. He knew from personal experience how hard it was when no one would acknowledge your existence. Hinata, the black sheep of the Hyūga Clan, had silently suffered for years until he'd intervened. Her suffering wasn't quite for the same reasons as his, but her pain was almost identical. Belatedly, Naruto realized he should have expected her to break down the way she did...but he didn't think he'd have to go so far as to make that promise _on his very first day back in the past!_

Thankfully, she had reacted in the best possible way, at least for now. Naruto guessed she wasn't quite thinking coherently, though, and once she got her faculties fully together and was comfortable enough around him, she would undoubtedly start asking questions he wasn't sure he would be ready to answer.

Naruto slumped down against the front door. Lazily, he made a sealless Kage Bunshin to gather his school supplies for him while he went into his mindscape to reactivate the telepathic link between him and Kurama.

_"Before you start ranting, you should know that I'll have to switch the link off very often while we're in Konoha,"_ Naruto told his bijū. _"We can't let our conversations draw suspicion and paint targets on our backs before we're ready."_

_**"Your reasoning is sound, but it does not excuse your decision to sever our connection during your snuggle session with the Hyūga girl,"**_ Kurama replied. _**"While I normally don't care about human relationships, your fragile bond with her is one that requires my special attention to ensure you don't accidentally break it."**_

_"Gee, thanks for caring,"_ Naruto said sarcastically. _"But...maybe I wouldn't be panicking so much right now if I had let you give your input at the time."_

_**"Don't dwell on it. You're already drowning in a sea of regrets; you don't need to whip up a new storm to expand that sea.**_

_**"In any case, given what we know about her mental stability, making that promise was the best possible course of action. Just from looking at her, it's plain to see that the poor girl is almost as screwed up in the head as you are. She fears rejection as much as you still do, so you have to make it clear that you are incapable of turning her away."**_

_"Thanks again for telling me what I already know."_ Naruto shrugged. _"I must be completely insane, ya know, having to take psych advice from a giant, fuzzy chakra demon on a regular basis."_

_**"Considering what the world has put you through, I'd say you've held yourself together remarkably well. Any lesser human would have lost it long ago, and truthfully, I don't believe we'll ever figure out exactly why you, of all people, have managed to endure and persevere."**_

_"Kurama, how many times will I have to say I don't give up and don't go back on my word?"_

_**"Many, and I'm not bored enough to be assed into predicting exactly how many."**_

_"Whatever."_ Naruto rose from his sitting position in the real world once the clone tossed his backpack into his lap and dispelled. _"Let's just get this day over and done with. The sooner we get the exams finished and get Mizuki busted, the sooner I can start working on healing Hinata and putting The Plan into motion."_

Kurama, knowing that Naruto needed to shut off their link again before leaving, only had time for one last statement._** "Don't forget to have her visit Ino and Inoichi on a regular basis," **_he said. _**"It's a certainty that she's repressed a lot of painful memories, and there's a good chance some of those memories may be sealed. Just like your nee-chan, your mate is a time bomb waiting to go off. I warn you, Naruto, do not underestimate Hinata's fragility again. It will not bode well for either of you."**_

Naruto simply nodded before severing the connection. He took a few more seconds afterward to breathe deeply, calming his nerves, before leaving to realize the beginning of his altered destiny. He could not afford to panic now.


End file.
